Belgium Flag

Belgium Flag

Belgium Flag

Conquered by the Romans in 15 b.c. and then by the Franks during the 3rd century a.d., during the 9th century the region that we now know as Belgium was the prosperous centre of the lands of the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne. During the 15th century, the Belgian counties came under the rule of the French dukes of Burgundy, later, by means of a series of marriage alliances, falling under the rule of, first the Hapsburg Empire and then Philip II of Spain, becoming part of the Netherlands in 1815. An uprising in 1830 led to the area known as the South Netherlands becoming recognized as the independent and permanently neutral kingdom of Belgium, under the rule of Leopold of Saxe-Coburg.

The black (hoist), yellow (middle) and red (fly) colors of the Belgian flag are said to be derived from the flag of the province of Brabant. A flag in these horizontally arranged colors was flown in 1789, when the Belgians unsuccessfully rose against the Hapsburgs. During the 1830 revolt against the Dutch king, William I, it is said that two men, Lucien Jottrand and
Edouard Ducpetiaux, recalling the colors of the 1789 standard, recreated the horizontally striped, three-color flag. Following the pattern of the French Tricolore, the stripes of the Belgium flag were changed to their vertical position following Belgium's independence in 1830, although it maintained its almost square shape.