The flag of North Brabant () consists of a

chequy In heraldry, variations of the field are any of a number of ways that a field (or a charge) may be covered with a pattern, rather than a flat tincture or a simple division of the field. Blazoning of French adjectives Variations of the field pre ...

pattern with 24 distinct fields in the colours red and white or gules and argent. The flag has been used since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, but fell into disuse in the 18th century. The flag is now back in use, and has been the official flag of

North Brabant North Brabant ( nl, Noord-Brabant ; Brabantian: ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to the w ...

since 1959. The flag of the province of North Brabant was adopted by the Provincial Council on January 21, 1959. In addition, the following description was used: "Rectangular, consisting of four horizontal stripes, divided into six adjacent surfaces of red and white and six vertical lines, divided into four adjacent sides of red and white." The

coat of arms of Croatia The coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Grb Republike Hrvatske) consists of one main shield and five smaller shields which form a crown over the main shield. The main coat of arms is a checkerboard (chequy) that consists of 13 red an ...

and the flag of the Belgian province of Antwerp make use of the same pattern, but the flag of Antwerp makes use of the colors red, white, blue and yellow.

History

The

ian flag dates from the Middle Ages. The colors gules and argent are used in Brabant standards, flags, and pennants since the proclamation of the

County of Louvain The Counts of Louvain were a branch of the Lotharingian House of Reginar which from the late 10th century ruled over the estates of Louvain (''French'') or Leuven (''Dutch'') in Lower Lorraine. History The likely ancestor of the Reginars, Gilbe ...

(942 CE) during the

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...

n period. Later the

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

took these colors on. During the

and the centuries after the red and white would be often used. Ships sailed under a red-white flag, especially in Antwerp. At the end of the 18th century, the flag fell into disuse. Only since 1959 has the red and white checkered flag become the official flag of the province of

Highest seniority

North Brabant flag has the highest seniority among all Dutch province flags. For that reason, it hung until 2006 immediately to the right of the throne of the monarch in the

Ridderzaal The Ridderzaal (; en, Hall of Knights) is the main building of the 13th-century inner square of the former castle of the counts of Holland called Binnenhof (English: Inner Court) at the address Binnenhof 11 in The Hague, Netherlands. It is us ...

. On official occasions, the flag should always be on the very left side for the spectators. As of

Prinsjesdag Prinsjesdag ( en, Little Prince's Day) is the day on which the reigning Monarchy of the Netherlands, monarch of the Netherlands addresses a joint session of the States General of the Netherlands, States-General of the Netherlands (consisting o ...

2006, the flags in de Ridderzaal were replaced by tapestries bearing the provincial coat of arms.

References

942 establishments Flags of the Netherlands Flag Red and white flags Flags introduced in 1959 {{Europe-flag-stub