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Limburg (Province, Belgium)

Limbourg

Flag of the province of Limburg - Image from Shipmate, 19 March 1997, with permission

Presentation of the province of Limburg
Provincial flag of Limburg
Coat of arms of Limburg
Former unofficial flag of Limburg
Unofficial provincial colours of Limburg
Provincial governor's honorary flag

See also:

Presentation of the province of Limburg

The Belgian Province of Limburg should not be called so, since it has no relationship with the historical Duchy of Limburg! Accordingly, it should not use a flag so blatantly derived from the banner of arms of the Duchy of Limburg. Here is the (hi)story:

At the end of the Ancient Regime, the region limited by Liège, Maastricht and Aachen was divided among several feudal states: the County of Loon (in French, Looz), the Principality of Liège, the Duchy of Limburg, the domains of Valkenburg and 's Hertogenrad (belonging to Limburg) and the County of Dalhem.
After the incorporation of Belgium to France in 1794, the feudal system was suppressed and the country was divided into nine departments, which are the origin of the current ten Belgian provinces (Brabant split much later). The Principality of Liège (pro parte), the Duchy of Limburg, the County of Dalhem and a few other smaller domains were merged into the Department of Ourthe, with Liège as its capital city. The County of Loon, the domains of Valkenburg and 's Hertogenrad and a few other smaller domains were merged into the Department of Lower Maas, with Maastricht as its capital city. The eastern part of the region formed the Department of Roer, which was later ceded to Germany.

After the fall of Napoléon I, the Congress of Vienna reconstituted the Kingdom of the Netherlands under the rule of William I, including what would later be Belgium. William renamed the Departments "Provinces" and changed their names: the Department of Ourthe became the Province of Liège and the Department of Lower Maas became the Province of Limburg. However, the former capital city of the Duchy of Limburg (the city of Limbourg) was already in the Province of Liège. The Province of Limburg was mostly constituted by the County of Loon; its only parts formerly ruled by Limburg were Valkenburg and s' Hertogenrad.
Belgium seceded from the Netherlands in 1830. The sharing of Limburg between the two neighbours was difficult. The "24 Articles' treaty", signed in 1839 only, allocated to the Netherlands the part of the Province of Limburg located east of the Maas. This is the origin of the two Belgian and Dutch Limburgs. The Dutch Limburg is still related to the historical Duchy of Limburg but the Belgian Limburg does not include a single piece of land formerly belonging to the Duchy, being mostly made of the former County of Loon.

Source: Pascal Parent, Belgique : province de Limbourg. Vexillacta [vxl], #13, September 2001.

Ivan Sache, 8 June 2005

Provincial flag of Limburg

The provincial flag of Limburg is white with a red lion with yellow tongue and claws. The lion bears a Ducal coronet and an escutcheon made of ten yellow and red horizontal stripes. It is banner of the provincial arms.
After the adoption of the federal system in Belgium, the Flemish Community imposed the adoption of arms and flags by all the provinces and municipalities of Flanders. The new arms of Limburg were derived from the arms of the Duchy of Limburg, with the addition of a Ducal coronet over the lion and of an escutcheon with the colours of Loon.
The flag and arms of Limburg were adopted by the Provincial Council on 8 May 1996 and confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on 29 October 1996.

Source: Pascal Parent, Belgique : province de Limbourg. Vexillacta [vxl], #13, September 2001.

Ivan Sache, 8 June 2005

Coat of arms of Limburg

Provincial coat of arms of Limburg - Image forwarded by Rik Beijnsberger, 12 December 1998

The provincial arms of Limburg are:

Argent a lion rampant gules crowned, armed and langued or an escutcheon barrulet of ten pieces or and gules.

The supporters are a deer and a swan, the respective mascots of Hasselt, the provincial capital city, and Tongeren. Tongeren is the oldest town in Belgium, formerly known as Atuatica Tungrorum, the home town of Ambiorix, the Eburon King who challenged and fought Julius Caesar.

Filip Van Laenen & Rik Beijnsberger, 12 December 1998

Former unofficial flag of Limburg

Former unofficial flag of the province of Limburg, in proportion 1:1 (left) or 2:3 (right) - Images from Shipmate, 19 March 1997, with permission

Until recently, the Province of Limburg used a banner of the arms of the Duchy of Limburg, supposed to be square but often stretched to the 2:3 proportion.
William I confered arms to the (then united) Province of Limburg in 1817:

Argent a forked-tailed lion gules armed crowned and langued or.

Logically, the Belgian Province of Limburg should have changed its name and adopted the arms of the former County of Loon:

Barrulet of ten pieces or and gules.

Those arms are today the municipal arms of Borgloon. From time to time, historians asked for a change in the name and the arms of the province, to no avail.

Source: Pascal Parent, Belgique : province de Limbourg. Vexillacta [vxl], #13, September 2001.

Ivan Sache, 8 June 2005

Unofficial provincial colours of Limbourg

The Belgian provinces were in the past represented by simple flags whose colours were taken from the provincial arms. These colours were not fixed. Various sources give different designs, but there are two main sources of information on these colours.

Former provincial colours of Limburg (1) - Image by Mark Sensen, 27 January 2001

A chart called Vlaggen der Belgische Provincies - Drapeaux des Provinces Belges (Flags of the Belgian Provinces) shows a flag horizontally divided red-white. The chart is not dated, but, according to the font used, the chart dates probably from the 1920-1930s.

Former provincial colours of Limburg (2) - Image by Mark Sensen, 27 January 2001

Some Dutch atlases and books about the provinces show a flag horizontally divide white-red, as published by Rudi Koot in Vexilla Nostra [vxn] #185 (1993) p. 32-33.

Mark Sensen, 27 January 2001

Provincial Governor's honorary flag

Provincial Governor's honorary flag, 1996- (left) and 1936-1996 (right) - Images by Mark Sensen, 27 January 2001

A sheet from an unidentified book (bilingual Dutch-French, containing regulations, maybe for the Navy) shows the honorary flags of the governors of the Belgian provinces, as adopted by Order in Council on 28 October 1936.
According to the construction details given on the sheet, the flags are 150 x 150 cm, made of three equally wide (50 cm) vertical black-yellow-red stripes. A shield made of the provincial arms is placed in the middle of the black stripe. The shield is 43.5 cm wide and 50 cm high, with another 3.75 cm for the point of the shield.

These flags are still in use according to Album des Pavillons [pay00].
The honoray flag of the Governor of Limburg was changed accordingly when the official provincial coat of arms was adopted in 1996.

Mark Sensen, 27 January 2001