FG-064 - Early Dutch National Flag
Flag ID: FG-064
Flag facts
- Country represented: Netherlands
- Flag type: National flag
- Design: Horizontal tricolour of red, white and blue
- Estimated period: First half of the 20th century, likely 1930s–1940s
- Dimensions: approximately 90 × 145 cm
- Ratio: approximately 1:1.61
- Panel height: approximately 30 cm per coloured stripe
- Material: Coarse, openly woven wool flag bunting
- Construction: Three separately cut and machine-sewn horizontal panels
- Hoist: Narrow white woven reinforcement with braided attachment cords
- Upper attachment: Long braided cord secured through the reinforced upper hoist corner
- Lower attachment: Shorter braided cord fitted at the lower hoist corner
- Fly: Narrow folded and machine-sewn outer hem
- Markings: No manufacturer, ownership or date markings observed
- Condition: Used, faded and locally worn, with small holes, opened seams and hand reinforcement around the hoist
- Original place of use: Unknown
- Classification: Historical national flag, likely dating from the 1930s–1940s
Overview
FG-064 is a Dutch national flag constructed from three separate horizontal panels of coarse wool bunting in red, white and blue. Each coloured panel measures approximately 30 cm in height, producing a completed flag measuring approximately 90 × 145 cm.
The flag is fully sewn rather than printed. The three coloured panels were cut individually and joined by machine stitching. A narrow white woven heading was folded around the hoist edge and fitted with braided attachment cords at the upper and lower corners.
Its materials and construction are consistent with European flag manufacture during the first half of the twentieth century. No date, manufacturer or original location of use is recorded, and the surviving physical evidence therefore forms the basis of the dating assessment.
The Dutch red, white and blue
The Dutch national flag consists of three equal horizontal stripes of red, white and blue. The design developed from the earlier orange, white and blue Prince's Flag, which was associated with William of Orange and the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule.
Red gradually replaced orange during the seventeenth century. By the modern period, the red-white-blue form was established as the national flag of the Netherlands, although political debate concerning the older orange stripe continued into the twentieth century.
On 19 February 1937, Queen Wilhelmina formally confirmed that the colours of the flag of the Kingdom of the Netherlands were red, white and blue. The declaration formally rejected proposals to restore the orange-white-blue Prince's Flag as the national flag.
The 1937 declaration concerned the colours rather than establishing a complete, legally enforced construction specification for every privately manufactured flag. Commercial and locally produced flags were therefore not governed by a complete statutory specification covering their precise dimensions, proportions and attachment systems.
Construction
FG-064 is made from coarse, openly woven wool flag bunting. The red, white and blue fields are formed from three separate lengths of fabric, each measuring approximately 30 cm in height.
The horizontal panels were joined by machine sewing. On the reverse, the folded seam allowances are clearly visible, confirming that the flag was assembled from separate strips of coloured material rather than produced from a single printed sheet.
The seams are functional rather than decorative. Their slightly irregular appearance reflects the practical construction of a working flag made from narrow widths of traditional flag cloth.
The fly edge is finished with a narrow folded hem secured by machine stitching. Local areas of stitching have opened, and small losses are visible along the outer edge, but there is no clear evidence that the flag has been substantially shortened.
The wool bunting
The flag cloth has a coarse and relatively open structure, consistent with traditional wool flag bunting intended to remain light and flexible in the wind. When held against the light, the individual threads and small variations in the weave become clearly visible.
The cloth has faded and discoloured unevenly. The red stripe varies in tone, the white has developed a greyish or cream appearance, and the dark blue can appear almost violet under some lighting conditions.
These colour variations are physical effects of age, use, storage and photographic lighting. They should not be interpreted as evidence that the flag originally used different national colours.
The unusual hoist
The hoist is the most distinctive construction feature of FG-064.
A narrow strip of strong white woven material has been folded around the inner edge of the wool and secured by machine stitching. The heading is considerably narrower and less standardised than the broad canvas headings commonly encountered on many later commercially manufactured flags.
Instead of metal clips, eyelets or a continuous sleeve, the flag is fitted with braided cords at the upper and lower hoist corners. The upper attachment consists of a longer braided cord passing through or beside the reinforced corner. The lower attachment is shorter and formed directly at the lower hoist.
Dark hand stitching is visible around parts of the upper hoist. Some of this work may represent reinforcement added during manufacture, while other stitches appear more likely to be later functional repairs made after the corner had begun to weaken.
The basic corded attachment system appears integral to the flag, although the surviving knots and individual hand stitches should not all automatically be treated as original factory work. The arrangement was intended for direct fastening to a halyard, rope or flagstaff fitting. Its irregular construction is compatible with an older working flag, but cannot by itself establish a precise date or prove manufacture before 1940.
Proportions
FG-064 measures approximately 90 × 145 cm, producing proportions of approximately 1:1.61.
The conventional modern proportion of the Dutch national flag is 2:3, equivalent to 1:1.50. A precisely proportioned 2:3 flag measuring 90 cm at the hoist would have a fly of 135 cm. FG-064 is therefore approximately 10 cm longer than a mathematically exact 2:3 example of the same height.
This difference does not necessarily indicate alteration. The flag's height was evidently determined by three available widths of bunting measuring approximately 30 cm each. The fly length could then have been selected independently according to the intended use, available cloth or workshop practice.
A proportion of 2:3 appeared in a proposed Dutch flag law in 1937, but that proposal was not enacted as a binding national flag law. Queen Wilhelmina's decree of 19 February 1937 confirmed the colours red, white and blue but did not establish a complete legally enforced ratio and construction specification.
The elongated proportions are compatible with manufacture before or around the late 1930s and can support an early dating when considered together with the wool material, sewn-panel construction and unusual hoist. They cannot independently prove that the flag predates 1937.
The fly and outer edges
The fly is finished with a narrow folded hem secured by machine stitching. The upper and lower corners retain their basic manufactured shape, although both show local wear and some separation of the stitching.
The surviving fly edge appears to be original. There is no continuous cut line, replacement hem or other clear evidence that the flag was reduced from a substantially greater original length.
Minor holes and broken stitches are present around the edges. These are consistent with a combination of outdoor use, repeated handling and later storage.
Wear and condition
FG-064 is in used condition. The wool shows general fading, discolouration, scattered small holes, abrasion and local weakening. Some seams remain tight, while others have begun to open.
The heaviest structural wear is concentrated around the hoist and fly corners, where a working flag normally experiences the greatest mechanical stress.
The upper hoist has been reinforced with dark hand stitching. The lower attachment also shows irregular stitching and compression around the cord. These details indicate practical maintenance rather than purely decorative ownership.
Some small holes may result from insect activity or later storage, while damage around the edges is more consistent with mechanical wear. Without earlier photographs or a documented storage history, the exact cause of each individual loss cannot be determined.
The condition is fully compatible with an authentic working flag from the first half of the twentieth century. It does not, however, establish a direct connection with the German occupation, Dutch resistance or the liberation of the Netherlands.
Dating assessment
FG-064 carries no date, maker's label, ownership inscription or documented provenance. Its age must therefore be assessed from its material, sewing, proportions, fittings and overall pattern of wear.
Several features support manufacture during the first half of the twentieth century:
- coarse wool flag bunting rather than synthetic fabric
- three separately cut and sewn colour panels
- traditional machine-sewn construction
- a narrow woven hoist reinforcement without modern metal fittings
- braided attachment cords integrated into the upper and lower corners
- hand reinforcement and functional repair around the hoist
- proportions slightly longer than the conventional modern 2:3 form
- general fading, wear and weakening consistent with prolonged age and use
None of these features can provide an exact date individually. Wool bunting and sewn-panel construction remained in use after the Second World War, and attachment systems could vary according to manufacturer, customer and intended location.
The combination of the coarse wool, three-panel construction, an unusual corded hoist without modern metal fittings and elongated proportions is nevertheless most consistent with manufacture during the 1930s or 1940s.
The flag may date from before the German occupation of the Netherlands in May 1940, but the physical evidence does not permit a definite pre-1940 attribution.
The Netherlands during the Second World War
Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940. Dutch military resistance ended after several days, and Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch government continued the war from exile.
During the occupation, the Dutch red-white-blue retained powerful national significance. It represented the pre-war kingdom, the government in exile and the continued existence of an independent Netherlands.
The flag also became an important public symbol during liberation in 1944 and 1945, when surviving national flags were brought from storage or improvised from available cloth.
FG-064 is physically compatible with a flag that could have existed during this period. However, no evidence links it to a particular wartime building, vessel, resistance group, liberation celebration or military unit.
It should therefore be documented as an early Dutch national flag likely made during the 1930s–1940s, rather than as a confirmed occupation or liberation flag.
Source-critical note
The identification of FG-064 as a Dutch national flag is secure. The dating to the first half of the twentieth century, and more specifically to the 1930s–1940s, is an interpretation based on the combined physical evidence.
Wool alone cannot provide a precise date. Sewn panels, machine stitching and corded hoists also continued in use across extended periods and were not unique to one Dutch manufacturer.
The unusual ratio may support an early date because it differs from the conventional 2:3 form, but historical flags were not always produced to mathematically exact dimensions. The difference could reflect available textile widths, commercial workshop practice or the intended method of use.
The flag should therefore not be presented as definitively pre-1937, pre-1940, occupation-used or liberation-used without further documentation.
The responsible classification is: First half of the 20th century, likely 1930s–1940s.
Additional photographs
Sources & references
-
Royal House of the Netherlands — Flag of the Netherlands.
Official summary of the Dutch national flag and Queen Wilhelmina's confirmation
of the colours red, white and blue on 19 February 1937.
royal-house.nl -
Flags of the World — Netherlands.
Vexillological background concerning the Dutch national flag, the historical
Prince's Flag and conventional proportions.
crwflags.com - Author's examination and photographic documentation. Direct measurement and physical examination of FG-064, including the wool weave, panel construction, hoist, attachment cords, fly edge, repairs and condition. No earlier provenance, manufacturer or original location of use is known.
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