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Gingelom (Municipality, Province of Limburg, Belgium)

Municipal flag of Gingelom - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 17 August 2005

Presentation of Gingelom
Municipal flag of Gingelom

See also:

Presentation of Gingelom

The municipality of Gingelom (7,638 inhabitants; 5,649 ha) is located in the south-west corner of Limburg, in the region of Haspengouw (in French, Hesbaye), bordering Flemish Brabant and Wallonia. Since 1976, it is made of the former municipalities of Borlo (including Buvingen, Kerkom, Mielen-boven-Aalst and Muizen since 1970), Jeuk (including Boekhout since 1970), Montenaken (including Kortijs and Vorsen since 1970) and Niel-bij-Sint-Truiden. The three bigger villages of Gingelom, Jeuk and Montenaken represent half of the population of the municipality. All the other villages have less than 350 inhabitants.

Source: Municipal website

The celebrity of Gingelom is Baron Erasme Louis Surlet de Chokier (1769-1839). Surlet studied with the Jesuits and should have became a priest. However, he prefered political action and took part in 1789 to the revolution against the Prince-Bishop of Liège and the Brabant revolution against Austria. He later rallied the French Republic and Napoléon. Back to Belgium, he was one of the leaders of the Belgian opposition in the Dutch Parliament and was nicknamed "Surlet de Choquant".
After the independence of Belgium, Surlet was elected on 11 November 1830 President of the National Congress. In March 1831, he was appointed Regent of Belgium and can therefore be considered as the first ruler of independent Belgium. He ceded the power to Leopold I, first King of the Belgians, on 21 July 1831.
Surlet has been widely forgotten and the inhabitants of Gingelom have decided to honour him with a beer called "De Chokier", brewed in Gingelom, where Chokier had his castle.

Source: De Chokier website
See also: Michel Géoris. Le premier souverain de Belgique, le Régent Surlet de Choquier. Editions Luc Pire (2001)

Ivan Sache, 17 August 2005

Municipal flag of Gingelom

The municipal flag of Gingelom is white with a blue tower.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 23 January 1989, confirmed by the Executive on 9 May 1989 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 8 November 1989. It is a banner of the municipal arms.

The arms of Gingelom are the former arms of Montenaken, which recall a castle built in the XIIth century and of which nothing has remained today.

Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 17 August 2005