Last modified: 2003-05-17 by jarig bakker
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by Mark Sensen, 14 November 1996
The Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC, United East India
Company) existed 1602-1798.
Mark Sensen, 17 November 1996
The upper stripe of the flags of the VOC and GWC was at first orange,
and changed like in the Dutch flag to red between 1630 and 1660.
A variant of the VOC-cypher shows an "A" instead of the "V". Some say
the "A" stands for Amsterdam and was used by this chamber, other say it
stands for "Algemeene Oostindische Compagnie" ["General East India Company"].
The (six) chambers of the VOC (Dutch United East India Company) had
their own flags: the town flag with the VOC-cypher, above this the initial
of the town.
Eg. [geo17] National Geographic Oct.1917
gives this flag as the one Henry Hudson used when he was in service of
the VOC during his 3rd expedition.
Mark Sensen, 17 November 1996
Other versions of the cypher showed a "Z" (for "Zeeland") above, some
also with a "M" below:
Mark Sensen, 28 March 1998
A painting by Ludolf Backhuysen with a view of the Rotterdam
harbour shows a yacht with a white flag with the Rotterdam cypher and red-white-blue
stripes at the top and bottom. According to Jos Poels (in [vxn]
Vexilla Nostra no. 214) white flags with tricolour stripes at
the top and bottom were used by administrators of the Navy Admiralities
in earlier centuries. Maybe this was a flag of an administrator of the
VOC Rotterdam Chamber?
Mark Sensen, 30 July 1998
There was also a cypher for the Cape (with a small "c"), but it's unknown
if it was used on flags.
Mark Sensen, 30 July 1998
See also: Earliest flags over South Africa (ed)
This
webpage shows a different version of the Netherlands East India Company
Flag (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC for short) than what are
shown at FOTW (as far as I can see).
Zane Whitehorn, 28 Mar 2003
There were quite a few different VOC flags, for use by different Chambers
(places of settlement). This flag was for Cape Colony, see this
webpage. The link just provided and an image in "Ensiklopedie van Suidelike
Afrika", 1967, suggest that it was indeed used on flags after 1652. I've
made a gif, using Mark Sensen's images, for this Cape Colony VOC-flag.
On the cited FOTW-page Mark Sensen queries: "There was also a cypher for
the Cape (with a small "c"), but it's unknown if it was used on flags."
Jarig Bakker, .28 Mar 2003
The version of the VoC flag on this
page really should not have been placed on the Homepage of an article
dealing exclusively with the Dutch East Indies, as the cypher used on this
flag refers in particular to the Cape of Good Hope (Caab de Goede Hope
in 17th Century Dutch).
In "National and Provincial Symbols" by F.G.Brownell (1993),
page 10:
"More common was the use of the company's cypher, a combination of
the letters VOC (Vereenigde Nederlandsche Oost Indische Compagnie), over
which a small letter C for Cabo (Cape), was sometimes placed.
The flag flown was either that of the Netherlands, or that of the Company,
which was the Netherlands flag bearing the Company's cypher".
Note that the above does not specifically mention a flag with the Company's
cypher with above it a small letter C. It does show us that such a cypher
combination existed however and that its use on flags used on ships with
the Cape of Good Hope as their homeport must assumed to have been in use.
The cypher can also be viewed on the same page in the above mentioned
book, as well as in C.Pama's Lions and Virgins (1965) Fig. 12.
Caabse Vleck was a very early name for Cape Town (Kaapstad) but I have
not been able to find the material relating to this.
I have a few photocopies of early paintings of the Cape of Good Hope.
The first is a watercolour dated 1655/56 and is the oldest known painting
of the settlement. It is headed: Aldus Verthoont hem de TAFEL BAY Geleegen
Aen CABO de BONA SPERANCA.
Three other drawings by Johannes Rach dated 1762 are handwritten underneeth:
Gezigt van Cabo de Goede Hoop.
So more than a Century after the landing of Jan van Riebeeck at the
Cape it is still known as "Cabo". This is probably why a C was added to
the cypher and not a K, which would have been the obvious choice if the
settlement had been known as Kaap de Goede Hoop.
Although we know the cypher with the C was in use at that time by the
Company in the Cape, I have never been able to find any evidence that a
flag with such a cypher was ever used, whether on land or on ships, but
would presume that when the Governor of the Cape boarded a ship for travel
he would use such a distinctive flag. Other ships operating from the settlement
might have used such a flag as well.
Andre van de Loo, 29 Mar 2003