Flevoland | |
Use: | Provincial flag |
Proportion: | 2:3 |
Adoption: | 9 January 1986 |
Design: | The flag is tierced in fess azure, or and vert, a fleur-de-lis argent is placed in the canton. |
The flag of Flevoland was hoisted for the first time on 9 January 1986, and it was formally defined as the provincial flag on 15 February 1989.[1]
The aspect ratio of the flag is 2:3.[2]
The flag is tierced in fess azure, or and vert. i.e. it consists of two horizontal stripes in the colours green and blue. A thinner, yellow stripe separates the two. In the upper left corner of the flag is a fleur-de-lis.
The flag recalls how the new province was reclaimed from the IJsselmeer. The central yellow stripe, wavy then straight, symbolises the transformation of the sea into land. Its colour symbolises rapeseed, planted to stabilise the land. The blue represents water, the green the land.[3]
The white fleur-de-lys (lily) is a pun, known in heraldry as canting arms. It commemorates Cornelis Lely, designer of the original polders, essential to the province. The flag of Lelystad, the provincial capital, is decorated with the same flower.