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Noord-Holland Province (The Netherlands)

Last modified: 2011-03-26 by andrew weeks
Keywords: noord-holland |
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[Provincial flag of North Holland] image by Mark Sensen, 4 May 1999

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Description of the flag

The flag of Noordholland was adopted 22 October 1958 and is a Banner of Arms: The RED lion on YELLOW background (Holland) on the coat of arms, the YELLOW leopards with lying blocks on a BLUE background (Westfriesland) can be discerned in the three stripes of the flag. The flag designed in 1938 with colors RYB was ultimately rejected because it was too similar to the Dutch national flag.
Source: Nederlands vlaggenboek, by Klaes Sierksma, 1962
Jarig Bakker, 23 June 2001

North Holland coat of arms

[North Holland Coat of Arms]International Civic Arms : http://www.ngw.nl/

"Per pale or and azure; I a lion rampant gules, armed and langued azure, II seme of horizontally placed billets or, two lions passant guardant in pale of the same. The shield is crested by a coronet of five leaves or. "

The arms of Noord-Holland are a combination of the arms of Holland and West Friesland. See Zuid Holland for the history of the arms of Holland and Friesland for West Friesland (or West Frisia). The arms of West Friesland differ from Friesland, in that the lions are different and the number of rectangles is reduced to five. The arms are used since the 16th
Ralf Hartemink, 1 Dec 1997

1938 parade flag

Parade flag North Holland image by Jarig Bakker, 26 January 2001

In 1938 Queen Wilhelmina had reigned the Netherlands for 40 years. On that occasion a lot of municipalities paraded in front of HM with their flags, which consisted of the provincial flag with the municipal coat of arms in the canton (or something...). Those municipal flags can only be considered as 'curiosities', while the status of the provincial flags is not quite clear.
Jarig Bakker, 26 January 2001

I don't think the colours of 1938 formed a flag of its own, and I don't read Siersma's book as saying that it did. I think this was merely the base pattern used for the municipal standards of 1938.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 29 Sep 2001