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Assendelft (The Netherlands)

Zaanstad municipality, Noord-Holland province

by Jarig Bakker, 22 June 2001

Assendelft [former municipality]
Assendelft CoA

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Assendelft [former municipality]

Assendelft is since 1974 part of Zaanstad; in 1960 the municipality counted 7100 inhabitants on 3111 hectares. The place was already mentioned in 1063 as Ascumannedilft. It is still a rural community.
The CoA is "gules a horse argent"; the flag was a banner of arms. Ralf Hartemink at <http://www.ngw.nl/a/assendel.htm> has this info: "The CoA with the horse caused some suspicion in former times, because there were no horses in the village - all transport went via canals!
There is a popular story: long ago the old barbarian inhabitants were said to have killed a stallion. Horses were not known then and it was for them a strange animal. As a reminder they have put the stallion on their CoA and flag."
Sierksma - Nederlands vlaggenboek, 1962, has this: "Flag: Red, with a white stallion passant. This flag is not official. The mayor of Assendelft told Sierksma that there was a very old flag in which there were some bullet-holes. The flag is documented in a book printed before 1501 by the Kanunnik (canon) Willem Herman van Gouda, from Stein, entitled "De Hollandiae Gelriaeque Bellum" (About the war between Holland and Gelre) (late 15th century). He saw in a battle the flag of Assendelft, which was given to them "Victori et labori eorum caballum datur in vexillo" (For their victory and efforts a stallion on a flag has been given to them)."
I have used the CoA in "Noord-Holland en zijn gemeenten', 1981, to get the approximation of Sierksma's black and white image. However the horse on the old flag may look different: I have seen three different CoAs...
According to Derk-Willem Visser the image of the flag was also in a book dated 1571; he has made a drawing of it and promised to send it to Benevex in due time (after his next book is finished).
Jarig Bakker, 22 June 2001

Assendelft CoA

image from this site.

This Coat of Arms was used by Assendelft municipality when it was was dissolved in 1974.
Jarig Bakker, 18 May 2003