THE BELGIAN FLAG - ITS HISTORY AND USE
Not much happens in Belgium for the time being - due to the lock-down. But you see that many people are hanging the Belgium flag out from a window in their house or apartment.
Why? Because they want to show solidarity with and support to all the people in the health sector, the police, the fire brigade, the transport sector, etc, who are all working very hard at the moment - and often with a risk for their own life.
Flagpoles are not very often used by private people in Belgium. You use the windows.
But what is the Belgian flag?
It is black, yellow and red. The black colour has to be to the left.
The flag is almost 200 years old. It was agreed by the Belgians as the national flag in 1831, when Belgium became an independent country. Before that it was part of the Netherlands - and before that again a part of France.
Why does it have these three colours? Because it was the colours of an old important region of what is now called Belgium. This region was - and still is - called Brabant. That is where we live. And the colours of that region was for many, many years black, yellow and red.
And why are the colours presented in vertical form - and not in horizontal form like most other flags? Because the Belgians wanted to make it look a bit like the French flag, the Tricolor: three colours beside each other.
The Belgian flag is used all over Belgium. On government and other public buildings. And by the Belgian king. And also by private people. But unlike in Denmark and in many other countries the Belgians normally do not have a flagpole at home. When they use the flag to celebrate something, they hang it out from a window in their house.
The Belgian flag has no special name. Only a few flags have a name. Who knows that the Danish flag is called Dannebrog? And the UK flag is called Union Jack - and why? It is basically also confusing that the French flag is called Tricolore, three colours. Many flags have three colours such as the German, the Dutch, the Italian, the Russian and the Belgian. As a communication person I think that thaings should be called what they are. Then it is easier for everybody to understand.
PS: The Belgian national song since 1830 is called "La Brabanconne" - also called after our region Brabant.
You can listen to it here:
http://www.nationalanthems.me/
The flag is almost 200 years old. It was agreed by the Belgians as the national flag in 1831, when Belgium became an independent country. Before that it was part of the Netherlands - and before that again a part of France.
Why does it have these three colours? Because it was the colours of an old important region of what is now called Belgium. This region was - and still is - called Brabant. That is where we live. And the colours of that region was for many, many years black, yellow and red.
And why are the colours presented in vertical form - and not in horizontal form like most other flags? Because the Belgians wanted to make it look a bit like the French flag, the Tricolor: three colours beside each other.
The Belgian flag is used all over Belgium. On government and other public buildings. And by the Belgian king. And also by private people. But unlike in Denmark and in many other countries the Belgians normally do not have a flagpole at home. When they use the flag to celebrate something, they hang it out from a window in their house.
The Belgian flag has no special name. Only a few flags have a name. Who knows that the Danish flag is called Dannebrog? And the UK flag is called Union Jack - and why? It is basically also confusing that the French flag is called Tricolore, three colours. Many flags have three colours such as the German, the Dutch, the Italian, the Russian and the Belgian. As a communication person I think that thaings should be called what they are. Then it is easier for everybody to understand.
PS: The Belgian national song since 1830 is called "La Brabanconne" - also called after our region Brabant.
You can listen to it here:
http://www.nationalanthems.me/
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