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Deurne (District, Municipality of Antwerp, Belgium)

Presentation of the Deurne district
Flag of the Deurne district
Former municipality of Deurne
Korfball clubs

See also:

Presentation of the Deurne district

The Deurne district (69,585 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 1,306 ha) was formed in 1983 when the former municipality of Deurne was merged into the municipality of Antwerp.

In 1830, the first municipal election in Belgium after the revolution took place in Deurne-Borgerhout, with the majority of the voters coming from Borgerhout and electing J. Huybrechts as the Mayor. The revamping of the ruined Reuzenhuis of Borgerhout as the town hall increased the political quarrel between Borgerhout and Deurne, which eventually split.

Deurne is proud of its five museums:
- Renaat Braem Huis, dedicated to the post-war architect Renaat Braem (1910-2001), a former student of Le Corbusier in Paris and Professor of Urbanism at the Architecture Institute of Antwerp;
- Museum Stampe en Vertongen, a war aircraft museum;
- Natuurhistorisch Museum Boekenberg, a natural history museum, located since 1863 in the caves of the Boekenberg Park;
- Volksmuseum Turninum, a museum of popular culture;
- Zilvermuseum, the Provincial silver museum, housed in castle Sterckhof.

Source: District website

Ivan Sache, 3 October 2008

Flag of the Deurne district

The flag of the Deurne district is prescribed in a Decree adopted on 24 March 2011 by the Municipal Council, approved on 18 February 2009 by the Flemish Heraldic Council, signed on 6 July 2009 by the Executive and published on 17 August 2011 in the Belgian official gazette.

The flag is made of five equal horizontal stripes blue-yellow-blue-yellow-blue

Former municipality of Deurne

Flag of the former municipality of Deurne - Image by Ivan Sache, 3 October 2008

The flag of the former municipality of Deurne, still hoisted on the town hall of Antwerp (photo), is blue with two horizontal yellow stripes, the central blue stripe being higher than the other. The colours of the flag are taken from the municipal arms.

The arms of Deurne are "Azure three chevrons or an escutcheon of the same a tree vert." According to Servais [svm55], the arms were granted by Royal Decree on 29 August 1842.
The three chevrons come from the seal of the noted Van Dorne family, used for the first time in the 13th century, for instance in 1270 on Cole Van Dorne's seal. At that time, there was not a great diversity in the families' seals, their main element being the writing on the rim. In Antwerp, several families used a seal with chevrons, for instance van de Werve (see the municipalities of Schilde and Vorselaar), van Wesele, van Wijneghem, van der Elst and van Dorne. In the 14th century, Gijsbrecht van Dorne had only one daughter, Agnete van Dorne, who married Wulfaert Vilain (d. before 1377) without having a child, and subsequently Renier van der Elst. Their son, also named Renier van der Elst, inherited the domain of Deurne. His son, Cole van der Elst, bore in 1413 quartered arms, with a tree in the first and fourth quarters and the three chevrons of the van Dorne family. The tree is most probably canting for the name Van der Elst, els meaning in Dutch "an alder".

After the split of the municipality of Deurne-Borgerhout, the new municipal council of Borgerhout applied for the arms of the former municipality, "Gules three chevrons argent an escutcheon of the same a tree vert", and the arms of Deurne were slightly modified to "Azure three chevrons or an escutcheon of the same a tree of the first".

Source: District website

Ivan Sache & Jan Mertens, 3 October 2008

Korfball clubs

Koninklijke Boeckenberg Korfbal Club

KBKC supporters' flags - Images by Ivan Sache, 11 May 2009

Founded on 6 March 1932, the Boeckenberg korfball club was granted the "Royal" title on 10 April 1957 when celebrating its 25th anniversary. The Panters (Panthers) won the national indoors championship in 1976, 2007 and 2008, and the national indoors cup in 2009.

During competitions, the club's supporters use a blue flag charged with a white panther, often with "PARKPANTERS" written in white letters in the bottom of the flag.

Ivan Sache, 11 May 2009

Koninklijke Riviera Korfbal Club

Founded on 14 September 1925, the Riviera korfball club was the first Belgian club to win (1934) the Scaldis International Easter Tournament, the forerunner of the European Cup. Riviera won the Belgian Cup in 1987.

The club's flag is vertically divided purple-white with a Royal crown surmounting "1924" in white in the purple half and "RIV..." written in purple letters in the white half.
The club's supporters also use a flag chequy white and purple, seemingly 10 x 10.

Ivan Sache, 11 May 2009

Korfbal Club Groen-Wit

KCGW flag - Image by Ivan Sache, 12 May 2009

Founded on 4 September 1966 by four former players of KC Trouw, the Groen-Wit (Green-White) korfball shared until 1969 the facilities of KC Deurne.

Photos of the victory in the final 2009 of indoors 2nd class championship show the club's flag as vertically divided green-white- green (1:2:1) with "GROEN-WIT KC" written in small green capital letters on the top of the flag.

Ivan Sache, 12 May 2009

Meeuwen Korfbal Vereniging

Meeuwen supporters' flags - Images by Ivan Sache, 12 May 2009

Founded in 1928 as "Matteotties" and member of the Socialist Korfball Union (Socialistische Korfbalbond), the Meeuwen korfball club moved in 1930, under the name of Arbeiders (Workers) to the more politically neutral Belgian Korfball Union. Starting official competitions in 1932, the Arbeiders won all national titles in 1937-1940.
The current name of the club (lit., seagulls) was adopted in the beginning of the Second World War; it most probably recall the seabirds enjoying the metallic cage built on the top of the town hall of Deurne as a phone relay. The club then dominated Belgian korfball, winning eight titles in the 1940-1953 period. Then it won only three titles, the last one in 1969.

The club's supporters use various flags featuring the club's colours, black and red:
- flag vertically divided black-red;
- flag horizontally divided black-red; - flag vertically divided black-red with a white seagull surmounted by "MEEUWEN" in white letters arranged in an arched pattern;
- flag vertically divided in 14 stripes, in turn black and red, with a white seagull flanked with the white lettering "YOU'LL NEVER FLY ALONE" (top) and "MEEUWEN KV" (bottom). The motto is clearly derived from "You'll never walk alone", a song written by Richard Rodgers et Oscar Hammerstein II and used as their anthem by the football clubs Liverpool FC and Celtic Glasgow.

Ivan Sache, 12 May 2009