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List of Belgian flags

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"The Belgian Nation chooses red, yellow and black as its colours" – article 193 of the Belgian constitution

Flags on a Flemish town hall with (left to right) the European, Belgian and Flemish Community flags
Flags on a town hall in Mechelen with (left to right) the flags of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium, Europe and Mechelen

This is a list of flags used in Belgium.

National flag

[edit]
Flag Date Use Description
1831-present Flag of Belgium A vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red with a 13:15 ratio. Technically the national flag, but rarely seen in the officially approved dimensions.

Ensign

[edit]
Flag Date Use Description
1831–present Civil ensign of Belgium A vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red with a 2:3 ratio.
1950–present State ensign of Belgium A vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red defaced by a lion rampant ensigned by a crown, both sable (black), the lion armed and langued gules (red).

Military

[edit]
Flag Date Use Description
1950–present Flag of the Belgian Army The Army badge, crowned, on a white field
Ensign of the Belgian Air Component The Air Component badge and roundel on a blue field.
Naval ensign of the Belgian Navy A yellow saltire on a white field, bordered above and below in red and to the left and right in black, charged on the top with a crown above crossed cannons and on the bottom by a fouled anchor.
[edit]
Flag Date Use Description
1831–present Naval jack of the Belgian Navy[1] A vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red with a 1:1 ratio.
Pennant of the Belgian Navy[2] rectangular black-yellow-red pennant with split fly
Commodore of Belgium[3] The rectangular tricolour of Belgium with split fly on the end
1966–present The flag hoisted by Belgian yachts registered in yachting associations approved by the Minister, also called the "Belgian yacht ensign"[4] The National ensign to be hoisted by Belgian yachts is made of three stripes placed vertically, black, yellow and red, of equal width; the black stripe is placed at hoist.
1999–present Belgian pleasure boats often hoist the "European civil ensign"[5] The European Union flag with the Belgian civil ensign in canton, with a white fimbriation.
2016–present The civil ensign, bearing a black lion, is flown by non-naval ships with a crew partly from the Naval Reserve.[6] A vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red defaced by a lion rampant, sable (black), armed and langued gules (red).
2021–present The Belgian Naval Auxiliary Ensign or the flag of Sovereignty ship under Belgian command[7] A blue background with the Belgian Naval ensign in the top left corner and on the right middle a white fouled anchor with a crown on top
1957–present Standard of the Admiral Benelux

Sub-national

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Regions

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Flag Administrative division Adopted Description
Flemish Region 1973 Or, a lion rampant armed and langued Gules.[8][9]
Walloon Region 1998–present
a red rooster on a yellow field
Brussels-Capital Region 2015

Communities

[edit]
Flag Administrative division Adopted Description
Flemish Community 1973 Or, a lion rampant armed and langued Gules.[8][9]
French Community 1991–present
a red rooster on a yellow field
German-speaking community 1990

Provinces

[edit]
Flag Administrative division Adopted Description
West Flanders 1997 coveted background in 12 pieces of gold and azure, with a heart shield of gules in the middle over the whole[10]
East Flanders 1999
Antwerp 1997
Limburg 1996
Flemish Brabant 1996
Walloon Brabant 1995
Hainaut / (This is the unofficial flag of Hainaut as the province does not officially have a flag)
Namur 1953
Liège / (This is the unofficial flag of Liège, as the province does not officially have a flag)
Luxembourg 2018 Azure and white horizontal stripes with the crowned red lion[11]

Flags of former Belgian provinces

[edit]
Flag Administrative division Adopted Description
Brabant 1837 A golden lion (Leo Belgicus) on a black field.

Brussels

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Flag Date Use Description
1991–2015 First version of Flag of Brussels-Capital Region A blue field with a yellow iris with a white border on top.
2015–present Flag of the Brussels-Capital Region
1930–present Flag of Brussels (city) Emblem of Archangel Michael slaying the dragon

Community commissions in Brussels

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Flag Date Use
1989–present Flag of the Common Community Commission
1989–present Flag of the Flemish Community Commission
1989–present Flag of the French Community Commission

Municipalities

[edit]

Royal standards

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Monarch

[edit]
The royal standard of King Albert II

Each royal standard for a monarch is a square rouge ponceau banner of the royal arms, personalised with the king's cypher in each corner.

Flag Date Use
1831–present The Belgian flag with the royal crown
1831–1865 Royal standard of Leopold I
1865–1909 Royal standard of Leopold II
1909–1934 Royal standard of Albert I
1934–1951 Royal standard of Leopold III
1951–1993 Royal standard of Baudouin I
1993–2013 Royal standard of Albert II
2013–present Royal standard of Philippe

Historical flags

[edit]
Flag Date Use Description
800–888[12] Imperial Orilflamme of Charlemagne A 3-pointed green field with 8 golden crosses and 6 flowers.
862–1797[12] Flag of the County of Flanders A yellow flag with a black lion in the center. "Or, a lion rampant armed and langued Gules"
900–1477[12] Flag of the County of Hainaut A yellow quartered banner with two black and two red lions.
980–1790 Flag of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, also of the Republic of Liège A bicolour, with two equal vertical bands of red and yellow.
1065–1797 Flag of the Duchy of Limburg A white background with a red lion on it
1183–1794[12] Flag of the Duchy of Brabant A golden lion on a black field.
1482–1714[12] Flag of Spanish Netherlands A white flag with the cross of Burgundy.
Civil Ensign of Spanish Netherlands A horizontal tricolour of red, white and yellow, with the Cross of Burgundy in the centre.
1781–1786[13] Flag of the Austrian Netherlands A tricolour, with three equal horizontal bands of red, white and gold with the arms of Austria.
1789 –1790 Flag of the United Belgian States A tricolour, with three equal horizontal bands of red, black and yellow.
1830 –1831 Flag of the Belgian Revolution and the first Belgian flag A tricolour, with three equal horizontal bands of black, yellow and red.
1831–present Flag of Belgium A vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red.

Colonials

[edit]
Flag Date Use Description
1908–1960[14] Flag of the Belgian Congo A blue flag with yellow five-pointed star.
1936–1960[15] Standard of the governor-general of the Belgian Congo A vertical tricolour of black, yellow, and red, with a yellow star in the upper left canton on a blue field.

Other

[edit]
Flag Date Use Description
1883–1920 Flag of Neutral Moresnet A tricolour, with three equal horizontal bands of black, white and blue.
1955–present Flag of Europe A circle of 12 5-pointed gold (yellow) stars on a blue field.
1957–present Unofficial flag of Benelux A tricolour, with three horizontal bands of Red, white and blue representing the Netherlands and Luxembourg and a Black box in the middle representing Belgium. With a yellow lion in the centre

References

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  1. ^ https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/be~nav.html
  2. ^ https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/be~nav.html
  3. ^ https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/be~1917.html
  4. ^ https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/be~ycens.html#:~:text=Belgian%20yacht%20ensign&text=The%20national%20ensign%20to%20be,stripe%20is%20placed%20at%20hoist.
  5. ^ https://www.fotw.info/flags/be~civ.html
  6. ^ https://www.fotw.info/flags/be~civ.html
  7. ^ https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/be~nav.html
  8. ^ a b https://www.crisp.be/crisp/wp-content/uploads/analyses/2014-07-10_ACL-Istasse_C-2014-fete_de_la_Communaute_flamande.pdf
  9. ^ a b https://www.fotw.info/flags/be-vlg.html
  10. ^ https://www.heraldry-wiki.com//heraldrywiki/index.php?title=West-Vlaanderen
  11. ^ Official email response from the Greffe of the Province of Luxembourg, May 2, 2018
  12. ^ a b c d e ""The flags of the Belgians through history" plate". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  13. ^ "Austrian Netherlands (1713–1786)". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  14. ^ https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/cd_prind.html
  15. ^ "Congo pre-independence – Governors-General flags (1885–1960)". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 2022-12-14.