What does the flag of Belgium look like and what does it mean?

This country is located near Germany. Its official cloth is surprisingly similar to German, but its meaning is completely different. Let's see how the flag of Belgium looks like, what's the point behind it.

Modern look

The state cloth is an important symbol of the Kingdom. It has a rectangular shape, and the length refers to the width in the proportion of fifteen to thirteen. A slightly different flag is used for civil purposes. His length to width ratio is three to two. All this is entirely permissible under the constitution. The royal court has its own version of the banner - with a proportion of four to three. Thus, according to how the flag of Belgium looks , you can understand who is using it - an administrative institution, private individuals or a monarch. The cloth is covered with three vertical stripes. Starting to list from the shaft, it is necessary to name black, gold and red colors.

History of appearance

The flag of Belgium, photos of which every traveler in Europe saw, appeared long ago. The modern version was recognized as early as 1831, when the cloth was approved after the Belgian revolution. Then the territory gained independence from the Netherlands. There was a Belgian kingdom, which used a tricolor.

The choice of flowers is connected with the revolutionaries from Brabant, who fought for independence in 1798. The attempt to give the country its sovereignty failed, but it was not forgotten - their struggle strongly influenced the history of the region. The cloth, under which the rebels from Brabant stood, was covered with horizontal stripes - gold, black and red. The Provisional Government after the revolution decided to change the direction to the vertical, as well as slightly change the order of the bands. Already two weeks after the creation of the cloth, it was approved by the constitution. The way the flag of Belgium looks now does not differ from that adopted in the nineteenth century.

Other cloths

There are several types of banner (in addition to official). For example, the government flag is similar to the civil flag, but it is supplemented with an emblem - on the golden strip there are images of a crown and a lion standing on its hind legs. This state variant was approved in 1950, before that it was used in the navy. Now the sailors use a white canvas with the cross of St. Andrew. On top of the shaft is an image of a crown and black crossed cannons, and beneath them is an anchor. The length refers to the width in a proportion of three to four.