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Hoofdplaat (The Netherlands)

Sluis municipality, Zeeland province

by Jarig Bakker, 27 Oct 2004
proposal by A.J. Beenhakker, c.1970

Hoofdplaat former municipality
Hoofdplaat Coat of Arms

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Hoofdplaat former municipality

Hoofdplaat is a former municipality in Zeeuw-Vlaanderen, since 1970 part of Oostburg, and since 2003 part of Sluis.
Flagproposal: two equally wide vertical stripes of white and blue, separated by a narrow red dented stripe.
The dented stripe symbolizes the dike, always threatened by attacks by water (blue) and land (white) has to be protected in this village, dangerously positioned on the bank of the Schelde river.
Source: Anton Jansen's magazine "Vlaggen", #71, 1991, flagdesigns for Zeeland municipalities by Ir. A.J. Beenhakker - courtesy of Mr. Hans van Heijningen.
Jarig Bakker, 27 Oct 2004

Hoofdplaat Coat of Arms

from Ralph Hartemink's site.
Granted 25 Dec 1819

Coat of Arms: "per fes: 1 per pale a. Zeeland; b. gules, charged with a lion rampant or, holding in its right forepaw a lifted sword, in the left forpaw a bundle of arrows; 2. argent charged with a ship sinking in a furious sea, all in natural colors."
The arms consist of the arms of Zeeland, the States-General and a symbol for the bad situation in which the municipality was (loss of soil by inundations)
In a treaty from 1775 about the diking of the later Hoofdplaat, it was agreed that 3/5 of the polder would be governed by Zeeland and the remainder would become "generaliteitslanden", directly governed by the States General (of the Dutch Republic). The Zeeland part was later elevated to the Lordship Partange, which had a silver shield with in the first quarter the arms of Zeeland.
In the 14th century it was a marshy area, which was surrounded by dikes, but totally lost to the water until 1775/76. In the time of the French occupation a lot of land was lost, and in 1840 only 1/3 was left.
Jarig Bakker, 27 Oct 2004