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Bergen op Zoom (The Netherlands)

Noord-Brabant province

Last modified: 2014-06-28 by andrew weeks
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Bergen op Zoom municipality Shipmate Flagchart : http://www.flagchart.net
Adopted 24 Feb 1978; design: unknown.

See also:

Bergen op Zoom

Bergen op Zoom is a merger of the former municipalities of Bergen op Zoom and Halsteren, and parts of the municipalities of  Steenbergen, Woensdrecht en Wouw (1 Jan 1997). The new municipality uses the flag of the old municipality. Number of inhabitants (1 Jan 2002) 65.793; area: 93,13 km². Settlements: Bergen op Zoom (seat), Halsteren, Heimolen, Kladde, Klutsdorp, Lepelstraat.

Flag: three stripes of red and white, proportioned height-wise 1:2:1, with on the white stripe the full municipal arms.
Adopted by municipal resolution 24 Feb 1978; design: unknown.

Originally the town's colors were chequy black and white. In the 19th century white and red were considered as town-colors. The present flag dates from c. 1870. A modernized version is in use by the municipality of Bergen op Zoom.
Source: DerkWillem Visser: Gemeentevlaggen en wapens Koninkrijk der Nederlanden", 2001.

Sierksma's Nederlands Vlaggenboek, 1962, notes that that flag was not used anymore, but that its restoration was commendable.
Jarig Bakker, 26 May 2005

Bergen op Zoom is located in the middle of woods. The sandy soil of the neighbirhood is grown with asparagus. Bergen op Zoom was in 1287 the main city of an important independent lordship. There were to fairs per year in the city in the Middle Ages. The ancient port, today partially silted, was linked to the Eastern Schelde. In 1533, the lordship of Bergen op Zoom became a Marquisate.
The city has remained famous as unconquerable; in 1588, the Spanish troops commanded by Duke of Parma Alexander Farnese could not seize it; neither could Spinola in 1622.
The Frisian military engineer Menno van Coehoorn (1641-1704) increased the fortifications of the city around 1700. However, the city was seized by the French in 1747, during the War of Spanish Succession. The fortifications were demolished in 1868 but are recalled by large avenues.

The municipal arms can be seen on the facade on a house built in 1611 on the Great Square (Grote Markt) of the city. They show two savages flanking a shield surmonted by a Marquis' crown. The shield  shows three white crosses and a three mounts, canting for the name of the city (Berg = mount).
The former palace of the Marquis of Bergen op Zoom (Markiezenhof), built by Antoine Keldermans in the XVth-XVIth century, was inhabited by the Marquis until 1795. It is today a cultural center, including the municipal museum, which shows, inter alia, procession banners.
Source: Guide Vert Michelin Hollande.
Ivan Sache, 27 May 2005


Bergen op Zoom other flag

[Bergen op Zoom other flag] by Jarig Bakker, 26 May 2005

According to "Wie, Wat, Waar? 1940", an annual published by the Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad in Nov. 1939, the flag of Bergen op Zoom was: horizontal white over red.
Jarig Bakker, 26 May 2005


Bergen op Zoom Coat of Arms

Bergen op Zoom Coat of ArmsInternational Civic Arms : http://www.ngw.nl/

Arms: gules three saltires argent, placed 2,1, in base a threemountain vert; the shield surmounted by a crown or of five leaves, and supported by two wild men.
Granted 16 Jul 1817.
Jarig Bakker, 26 May 2005


Halsteren [former municipality]

former municipality of Halsteren Shipmate Flagchart : http://www.flagchart.net
adopted 23 Oct 1980; design: Stichting Banistiek en Heraldiek

Description: the hoist divided by a hoist diagonal blue over yellow; the fly with seven stripes of green and white, proportioned 6:1:2:1:2:1:6.
In the hoist the traditional division for St. Martin has been represented in the colors in which he is designed on the municipal arms.  The hoist and its division is analogous to the flag of Woensdrecht. Three white stripes on green correspond to the three silver mascles on green of the municipal arms.
Furthermore on can see:
- the three main villages before it was incorporated into France, beginning of the 19th century
- the present villages Halsteren, De Poort and Lepelstraat
Source: Vexilla Nostra 129.


Halsteren historical flag

Halsteren historical Shipmate Flagchart : http://www.flagchart.net
adopted 19 Aug 1976; design: Hoge Raad van Adel

Description: In blue St. Martin on a horse with beggar, the saint cutting off part of his coat; the whole image in yellow, all of 1/2 flaglength and 1/2 flagheight.
The flag represents the top half of the municipal arms.
However in practice the flag was not satisfactory.
Source: Vexilla Nostra 129.


Halsteren Coat of Arms

[Halsteren Coat of Arms] image from this website.