The Grand Duchy of Flandrensis (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: Groothertogdom Flandrensis) is a

micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...

with claims over some territories of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

, which was founded in 2008 by the

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

Niels Vermeersch. Flandrensis is not recognised by any country or government, VANSTEENKISTE, A., "Hoogledenaar is Groothertog van micronatie Flandrensis", Het Nieuwsblad, 13 September 2012, page 22-22 VERHAEGHE, H.,
Middagpost West-Vlaanderen
'', Radio 2, 13 September 2012 (interview with Niels Vermeersch) BELENFANT, M., ''Sa Majesté le Grand-Duc de Flandrensis brise la glace'', 'Le Jeu de l'Oie: La Revue Internationale de Sciences – Po Lille', April 2014, page 30-31 nor is it their intention to be recognized as a country.The Brussels Times
Springtime of micronations spearheaded by Belgian "Grand-Duke" Niels
8 December 2015 Since 2021 the micronation is registered in Belgium as the environmental non-profit organization “vzw Groothertogdom Flandrensis”.,

', Kruispuntbank Ondernemingen, 12 August 2021

History

The Grand Duchy of Flandrensis was founded on September 4, 2008 as a temporary hobby for 2 weeks. Oeuillet, J., ''Le business des vanités : enquête sur les arnaques à la noblesse'', Ed. du Moment, 16 April 2015, pages 207, The

Micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...

is inspired by the medieval

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was a historic territory in the Low Countries. From 862 onwards, the counts of Flanders were among the original twelve peers of the Kingdom of France. For centuries, their estates around the cities of Ghent, Bruges and Ypr ...

(Pagus Flandrensis). Flandrensis was firstly regarded by the founder as a hobby-micronation, later as an ecological venture, to raise awareness on ice melting and climate change. and since 2021 the micronation is also an environmental non-profit organization. The micronation has its own identity cards, currency, heraldry, newspaper, constitution and national anthem. Until 2014 Flandrensis was partly a political simulation with political parties like the APPF (

pirate party Pirate Party is a label adopted by Political party, political parties around the world. Pirate parties support Civil and political rights, civil rights, direct democracy (including e-democracy) or alternatively Participatory democracy, partici ...

), DRP (

royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of governme ...

), NPF (

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

), FDUP ( unionist), FL-AL (

solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

), Lijst Govaert (

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

) and L&S (

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

) and organised yearly elections. Professor Alastair Bonnett of the University of Newcastle described Flandrensis as an example of a micronation that is inspired by a city council in which young people learn to make decisions. Flandrensis is one of the few micronations whose coverage of the elections were published by local media. GHEERAERT, T., ''Verkiezingen in Flandrensis'', Het Wekelijks Nieuws, 17 October 2014, page 62 PRUDENT, R., Envie d’être chef ? Toi aussi, crée ta micronation en dix leçons '', ‘

Rue 89 Rue89 is a French news website started by former journalists from the newspaper ''Libération''. It was officially launched on 6 May 2007, on the day of the second round of the French presidential election. Its news editor is Pascal Riché, forme ...

', 12 June 2014'' In 2021 the

was composed of 741 citizens from 71 different nationalities. Outside the internet the activities of Flandrensis were restricted to the region around

Roeselare Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The ...

but the official embassy is located in the West-Flemish town

Sint-Juliaan Langemark is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders, and a subdivision of the municipality of Langemark-Poelkapelle. The village has about 5,000 inhabitants. Besides the village center, there are also three smaller hamlets on the ...

. MAZARS, P., “Micronations: la tournée du grand-duc", ''

Le Journal du Dimanche ''Le Journal du dimanche'' (English: ''Sunday's newspaper'') is a French weekly newspaper published on Sundays in France. History and profile ''Le Journal du Dimanche'' was created by Pierre Lazareff in 1948. He was managing editor of ''France ...

'', 28 July 2014 CORNILLIE, B., “Niels, groothertog van Flandrensis'', Het Laatste Nieuws, 29 August 2014, page 20'' Flandrensis had also a

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

that united only Dutch-speaking

micronations A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...

: the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis, the Principality of Arkel and the Duchy of Campinia (disbanded in 2016). Flandrensis was first time mentioned in June 2014 at the Belgian regional newspaper the Krant van West-Vlaanderen But after the participation of Flandrensis in Polination 2012 (2nd International Conference on Micronations on July 14, 2012 at London) the micronation came to the attention when the Belgian newspapers

Het Nieuwsblad ''Het Nieuwsblad'' (; en, The Newspaper) is a Flemish newspaper that mainly focusses on "a broad view" regarding politics, culture, economics, lifestyle, society and sports. History and profile In 1929, ''Het Nieuwsblad'' was published by ...

Het Belang van Limburg ''Het Belang van Limburg'' (Dutch; literally ''The Interest of Limburg'') is a Dutch language regional newspaper in Belgium. History and profile ''Het Belang van Limburg'' was founded in 1933 as a merger of several weekly magazines. The paper ...

and

Gazet van Antwerpen The ''Gazet van Antwerpen'' (Antwerp Gazette, popularly named ''De Frut'', "sour head cheese") is a Belgian newspaper in Antwerp and Flanders, published by Concentra. History and profile ''Gazet van Antwerpen'' was established in 1891. Its edit ...

published an article about Flandrensis as part of a reportage on European

. In 2014 the micronation was the theme of the television show "Normale Mensen" on the Belgian channel Één. Since 2015, Flandrensis has been a member state of the ''

Organisation de la microfrancophonie The ''Organisation de la microfrancophonie'' (OMF; en, Organisation of the Microfrancophonie; shortened to Microfrancophonie) is an intermicronational organisation that aims to promote French-speaking ( Francophone) micronations in communities ...

'', an intermicronational organisation. Flandrensis was later present on other international conferences on micronations in Perugia (2015),

Principality of Aigues-Mortes The Principality of Aigues-Mortes ( French: Principauté d'Aigues-Mortes) is a micronation that claims the city of Aigues-Mortes. It is not recognised by any country or government. Aigues-Mortes was founded in 2010 as a humorous parody of the Pri ...

(2016), Atlanta (2017) and Vincennes (2018). BONZOM, N., « Le sommet francophone des micronations, entre folkore et engagement citoyen », 20 minutes, 26 September 2016, PLACER, A., Sommet de micronations sur le pavé: folklorique et citoyen, La Voix du Nord, 21 January 2018 In May 2022 the founder was invited as a speaker on ChangeNow, an international climate summit in Paris to tell about Flandrensis and environmental micronationalism.

Territory

Flandrensis is regarded by the founder as an ecological venture, to raise awareness on ice melting. STROCHLIC, N., ''Ieder zijn eigen koninkrijk'', National Geographic, April 2016, page 8-9 Flandrensis has no intentions to visit their claims. The territorial claims of Flandrensis are a statement to the international community and they claim that the micronation is the only country in the world that doesn't want any people on its territory. On the basis of an interpretation of the

Antarctic Treaty russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico , name = Antarctic Treaty System , image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder , image_width = 180px , caption ...

(1959), Flandrensis claims five islands off the coasts of

West Antarctica West Antarctica, or Lesser Antarctica, one of the two major regions of Antarctica, is the part of that continent that lies within the Western Hemisphere, and includes the Antarctic Peninsula. It is separated from East Antarctica by the Transant ...

Siple Island Siple Island is a long snow-covered island lying east of Wrigley Gulf along the Getz Ice Shelf off Bakutis Coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Its centre is located at . Its area is and it is dominated by the dormant shield volcano Mount Si ...

, Cherry Island,

Maher Island Maher Island is a small horseshoe-shaped island lying north of the north-western end of Siple Island, off the coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. It is one of the three pieces of land closest to the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility, also know ...

Pranke Island Pranke Island is a small ice-covered island lying close to Siple Island in the west extremity of Russell Bay, off the coast of Marie Byrd Land. Mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from ground surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959� ...

and

Carney Island Carney Island () is an ice-covered island, long and about in area, with all but its North coast lying within the Getz Ice Shelf, Antarctica. It is located between Siple Island and Wright Island along the coast of Marie Byrd Land. Carney Isla ...

. MIDTSJO, L., Vi eren en nasjon vi med, Finansavisen, 13 October 2020, page 21-34 Niels Vermeersch sent letters to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and to the nations who signed the

to inform them of his claim. All of these countries ignored Niels and his claim. Because of the claims, a diplomatic conflict with the micronation Westarctica arose in 2010, this resulted in the creation of the Antarctic Micronational Union (AMU). Coverage of this conflict appeared in the Dutch ''Columbus'' magazine, the Croatian newssite ''Telegram'' and the French book ''Les Micronations''. Delafontaine, L., ''Les Micronations'', Montreuil-sur-Brêche, Diaphane, 14 September 2013, pages 160, In 2010 the on-line Russian newspaper '' Chastny Korrespondent'' (Private Correspondent) published an article about Antarctic micronations and described Flandrensis as one of the most "resonant" micronations on Antarctica.

National symbols

The flag of Flandrensis is inspired by the first

Belgian flag The national flag of Belgium ( nl, vlag van België, french: drapeau de la Belgique, german: Flagge Belgiens) is a tricolour consisting of three equal vertical bands displaying the national colours of Belgium: black, yellow, and red. The colours ...

of 1830. The original Belgian flag's yellow band has been replaced by white which symbolises a new beginning. For the same reason there are also two lions on the coat of arms, based on the

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

lion.

Non profit organization

On August 12, 2021 Flandrensis was registered in the Belgian Official Journal as “vzw Groothertogdom Flandrensis”. In the published bylaws Flandrensis describes themselves as an environmental non-profit organization that focuses on climate change and Antarctica, using the concept of micronationalism to draw attention to climate in a creative way. Some of their projects are climate letters and clean-up actions. BAUDET, M., Voyage dans les micronations, ces pays de fantaisie qui réinventent la démocratie, Le Monde, 16 August 2021

Micronational nobility

In 2015 the Belgian author Julien Oeuillet published the book "''Le business des vanités: enquête sur les arnaques à la noblesse''" about the subject of fake nobility and scams. The book mentions several micronations like Hutt River, Araucanía and Patagonia and Flandrensis. The author described the micronation Flandrensis as an alternative and humoristic way to get a title of nobility, but that nobility in the micronation only exists because of the medieval character of the micronation and not from ambition to create titles. Neither the founder nor the “citizens” use them outside the community of micronations. Although those titles are considered real and legal, because those are not Belgian noble titles, but the Flandrensisian ones. The micronation does not sell any noble titles, but reward them to citizens for their efforts and contributions toward the micronation or the environment.

Photos of Flandrensis published in media

File:Flandrensiscitizens.jpg, Flandrensisian senators (2011) File:Flandrensispolination.JPG, Signing of a treaty between Flandrensis and the Republic of St. Charlie on 15 July 2012 at the Polination Micronational Conference in London. File:FlandrensisMolossia.JPG, Niels Vermeersch with

Kevin Baugh The Republic of Molossia, also known as Molossia (), is a micronation claiming sovereignty over of land near Dayton, Nevada. The micronation has not received recognition from any of the member states of the United Nations. It was founded by K ...

of the

Republic of Molossia The Republic of Molossia, also known as Molossia (), is a micronation claiming sovereignty over of land near Dayton, Nevada. The micronation has not received recognition from any of the member states of the United Nations. It was founded by K ...

on 15 July 2012 at the Polination Micronational Conference in London. File:FlandrensisLadonia.JPG, Niels Vermeersch with Queen Carolyn of Ladonia on 15 July 2012 at the Polination Micronational Conference in London. File:10Flandri.jpg, Bill of 10 Flandri File:20Flandri.jpg, Bill of 20 Flandri File:50Flandri.jpg, Bill of 50 Flandri

References

External links

Official websiteGrand Duchy of Flandrensis
on

MicroWiki MicroWiki is a free online encyclopedia about micronations launched in 2005. It has since become the principal way in which Internet users document micronational matters, as most do not meet Wikipedia's notability requirements. It is maintained b ...

{{Micronations West Antarctica micronations States and territories established in 2008 Marie Byrd Land Environmental organisations based in Belgium