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![[Polder board flag of Delfland]](../images/n/nl-delfl.gif)
by Gerard van der Vaart, 11 February 1996
On the flag of the Polder Board Delfland (The Netherlands), it looks
as if they quarter Bavaria (the famous blue and white lozenges), and I
can't fathom the reason. Even during the 16th Century, before The Netherlands
freed itself from Spanish rule being part of the Holy Roman Empire, the
Bavarian Wittelsbachs did not have any holdings in The Netherlands. I assume
that the arms are actually those of the city of Delft - if they were just
the arms of the organization the Bavarian influence would be even stranger.
Delft and Munich seem very ill-matched, even though the inhabitants of
both towns love beer and gardens and both support football teams whose
records in past years have been indifferent at best. Munich is of course
much larger than Delft, and although Delft has a world-famous technical
university, so does Munich, as well as having several other ones as well.
So what's the Bavarian connection?
Ron Lahav, 21 Nov 2003
Delfland was transformed from a marshy region to an agricultural area
from the 14th till the 16th century by a lot of peat-digging. In that time
Holland was ruled by the "Beierse Huis" (Bavarian House). The arms
of the polderboard Delfland are those of Albrecht van Beieren (1389-1404).
It was granted in the 16th century. In the province of Zuid-Holland are
several municipalities which use the Bavarian colors, while some place
even have "beier" in it, like Beijerland, Oud- and
Nieuw-Beijerland. They form part of the Polderboard "De Grote Waard",
which has also arms with the Bavarian lozenges.
Albrecht was count of Holland during the medieval feud, named "Hoekse
en Kabeljauwse Twisten", and switched from the "Hoeken" (hooks,
nobles) to the "Kabeljauwen" (cods, cities) in 1392 under the influence
of his mistress Aleid van Poelgeest, who was murdered in The Hague by some
"Hoekse" nobles. His granddaughter Jacoba van Beieren (1417-1433)
chose the "Hoekse" party, but had to relinquish her claims to Holland
by the shrewd operations of Philip the Good of Burgundy (1433-1467) after
a very gallant fight.
Delfland probably chose the Bavarian arms as an hommage to people's
heroes, although the counts of Burgundy were very important in putting
Holland on the European map (and under Charles V on the world map) - but
they rarely visited the region, as Jacoba did, flying from one lover to
the next...
Jarig Bakker, 22 Nov 2003
![[Old Delfland flag]](../images/n/nl~pb_df.gif)
by Jarig Bakker, 2 Dec 2003
Dutch name: Hoogheemraadschap van Delfland; seat: Delft in the province
of Zuid-Holland.
Flag: (1) two equally wide horizontal stripes of white and blue. (In
use since 1893, and identical to the flags approved by the High Council
of Nobility for the municipalities of Kampen
and Roermond.
Text: Kl. Sierksma; image: Hans van Heijningen.
Source: Vexilla Nostra #121, Jul-Aug 1982.
Jarig Bakker, 2 Dec 2003
![[Oldest Delfland flag]](../images/n/nl~pb0df.gif)
by Jarig Bakker, 2 Dec 2003
Horizontal stripes of red - white - blue - white - red - white - blue,
proportioned 1:1:1:3:1:1:1, with in the center of the fourth
stripe the complete arms; below it the Dutch Garden, and surrounded
by laurel-branches; along all sides a red - white - blue triangled border
of 1/10 flagheight, with alternating red and blue against the sides.
This flag was in use till c. 1890.
(The central image wants a nanometer retouch, I guess, but I know no
image to work from...)
Text: Kl. Sierksma; image: Hans van Heijningen.
Source: Vexilla Nostra #121, Jul-Aug 1982.
Jarig Bakker, 2 Dec 2003