Statenvlag
The Statenvlag, or States Flag, is the flag of the Dutch Republic’s States-General. It shows three horizontal stripes: red on top, white in the middle, and blue on the bottom. It replaced the orange-white-blue Prince’s Flag in the mid-1600s, and the modern national flag of the Netherlands is based on this design. The exact colors were fixed in 1937, and the flag also resembles the flag of Luxembourg.
The origin of the red-white-blue colors is not clear. Some think orange faded to red over time, while others believe the colors are older than the Prince’s Flag and may be connected to the Bavarian coat of arms used by Holland’s rulers.
In the 1650s and 1660s, the orange flag was banned to distance the Republic from the English Crown, and the red-white-blue flag became the States Flag. Before 1664 it was often called the “Flag of Holland,” but after Zeeland complained, it was officially named the States Flag (Statenvlag).
In the 1930s, the NSB used the orange flag, but in 1937 Queen Wilhelmina issued a decree confirming red, white, and blue as the official Dutch colors, partly as a signal to the NSB.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 07:22 (CET).