Drimmelen, Netherlands Raises New Flag for the First Time

OCTOBER 16, 2024 — On Monday morning, the Mayor of Drimmelen, Boy Scholtze, raised the municipality’s official flag for the first time, according to a news release from the municipal government.

The City Council had adopted the flag just a few days earlier, on October 10. The flag’s design is based on the municipal coat of arms and was created by heraldry expert René van Troost.

The flag features horizontal wavy stripes of equal height in alternating gold-yellow and blue, with a black shield bearing three white diagonal crosses in the center. The gold and blue are drawn from the imperial colors of the old coats of arms of the former municipalities of Made and Drimmelen, Terheijden, and Hooge and Lage Zwaluwe. The three stripes also symbolize these three municipalities, as well as highlighting the importance of water in the region’s history.

The black shield with white diagonal crosses at the heart of the flag is a nod to the historical coat of arms of the Drimmelen family, from which the municipality takes its name.

According to the government website, the initiative to create a flag began in April 2023 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Drimmelen in 1998, when the municipality of Made was renamed Drimmelen. The municipality of Made itself was formed in 1997 through the merger of Made en Drimmelen, Terheijden, and Hooge and Lage Zwaluwe.

Image: Renatus!, CC BY-SA 4.0