Groningen

Groningen
Country	Netherlands
Flag of Groningen
Adopted	17 February 1950
Wikipedia article
Flags of the World article

Groningen (Gronings: Grunn; West Frisian: Grinslân) is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands.

The flag is based on the flag and coat of arms of the Ommelanden and the flag of the city of Groningen. The colors of the city are white and green; those of the Ommelanden are red, white and blue. The three blue stripes in the flag of the Ommelanden refer to the historic three Ommelanden: Hunsingo, Fivelingo and the Westerkwartier. The Oldambt is sometimes, sometimes not seen as the fourth Ommeland, but is not represented in the Ommelander flag. The eleven hearts refer to the eleven sub-quarters. The Ommelander coat of arms dates from the second half of the 16th century. It seems related to the provincial flag of Friesland, but it dates from the 19th century (and does not contain hearts, but pompeblêden).

The colors of the city of Groningen form a cross in the center of the flag to symbolize the central location and role of the city.

The colors are defined as the Pantone colors 032U (red), 300U (blue) and 355U (green).

History and Rejected Proposals

When the province was flagged in Groningen, the provincial coat of arms was painted on a white canvas until a permanent flag was established. Already in 1913 Titus van der Laars made a proposal for a flag to be used by the province of Groningen in his book Weapons, flags and stamps of the Netherlands. His first proposal concerned a banner of the coat of arms of the Ommelanden, with the middle blue stripe replaced by a green strip as a reference to the city of Groningen (flag proposal 1). As an alternative to this flag, he proposed a number of flags with the colors of the provincial coat of arms (flag proposals 2 and 3).

The design for the current flag was made by Jan Tuin, then a member of the Provincial Executive of the province and later mayor of the city of Groningen. After the provincial authorities could not agree on a new design, he offered to make a new design, which was subsequently received enthusiastically. The current flag was adopted on February 17, 1950, with a decree that would take effect six days later.

Rejected Proposals