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Oudewater (The Netherlands)

Utrecht province

Shipmate Flagchart : http://www.flagchart.net
adopted 24 May 1973.

Oudewater municipality
Oudewater Coat of Arms

Other Oudewater pages:

Snelrewaard

See also:

Oudewater municipality

Number of inhabitants (1 Jan 2003): 9.767; area: 40,17 km². Settlements: Oudewater (seat), Hekendorp, Papekop, Snelrewaard.
Oudewater was founded in the 10th century. It was internationally known because of its "Heksenwaag", Witches weighinghouse. Emperor Charles V granted Oudewater the privilege to weigh women, who were prosecuted for witchcraft, in the Netherlands and abroad, and to give them a "Certificaet van Weginghe", confirming that they had been weighed in Oudewater and were not too light, and thus were no witches.
Flagdescription: Stripes of white - red - white, proportioned 1:8:1, the first two stripes share waves with at least four bends, and the second and third share waves with at least five bends; at two thirds of flaglength a white square placed on one point high 3/5 of flagheight, on which a red four-leaf.
Adopted by the municipal council on 24 May 1973.
The four-leaf symbolizes the original four city-quarters: the Gommiger-, Wijdstrater-, Leeuweringer-, and Kapeller- Vierendeel, being representative of the community. The wavy stripes represent the Hollandsche IJssel river and the name Oudewater (=old water). The four-leaf was already on the oldest known Oudewater Coat of Arms (c. 13th century), and is generally considered as unique.
Source: the Oudewater municipal website.

Oudewater Coat of Arms

from the Oudewater municipal website.

Granted 24 juli 1816.