Flying the flag on holidays and family celebrations in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands the flag is not only flown on the fixed flag days. On King’s Day the country turns orange, on Liberation Day the tricolour flies at full mast, and in June flags with a school bag attached appear everywhere. Because the Netherlands has no flag law, flying the flag for a celebration is free. This guide describes the customs.

Anyone may always fly the flag

According to the Dutch government, anyone may fly the flag on any day of the year, for example for a festive occasion such as a wedding or passing an exam. The flag instruction applies only to government buildings. Zaanstad’s flag instruction also names gaining a school diploma and celebrating an anniversary as occasions on which private individuals can fly the flag.

King’s Day

King’s Day on 27 April is King Willem-Alexander’s birthday and the only fixed flag day with both extended flying and the orange pennant. If 27 April falls on a Sunday, the flag instruction has King’s Day celebrated on Saturday 26 April. According to the Royal House, the custom of flying the orange pennant on royal occasions dates from the period after 1813, when the House of Orange returned.

The pennant also flies on the birthdays of Queen Máxima (17 May), Princess Beatrix (31 January) and the Princess of Orange (7 December). On all other occasions, according to the Royal House, the flag flies without the orange pennant.

Liberation Day and the war commemorations

On 5 May, according to the National 4 and 5 May Committee, the flag may fly at full mast from sunrise to sunset, without a pennant. It can also fly together with the municipal flag, the provincial flag or flags of countries involved in the liberation. The evening before, on 4 May, the flag flies at half-mast. More is in the guide to flag days.

Veterans’ Day on the last Saturday of June is a day of extended flying. Some municipalities also raise the Veterans’ flag alongside the tricolour; Zaanstad does so, for example, on Veterans’ Day, 4 May, 5 May and 15 August.

Christian holidays

The general flag instruction does not list Christmas, Easter, Ascension Day or Whitsun as flag days. Anyone who wishes to fly the flag on those days may do so. In the flag instruction these holidays play another role: if a fixed flag day falls on a Sunday or a generally recognised Christian holiday, the date in brackets applies. Which holidays are generally recognised is set out in the General Time Limits Act. In 2027, Queen Máxima’s birthday therefore moves from Whit Monday to 18 May.

Passed: the flag with a school bag

When final exam results are announced in June, many homes fly the flag, often with the school bag at the top of the staff. It is a well-known Dutch custom that tells the neighbourhood someone has passed. The Dutch government expressly names passing an exam as an occasion on which the flag may be flown. There are no rules for this; for the flag itself the usual customs from the Handleiding apply, such as the flag not touching the ground.

Birthdays, weddings and anniversaries

For a birthday, wedding, anniversary or other family occasion the Dutch flag is flown, sometimes together with a provincial or municipal flag or a flag of one’s own. Birthday flags and other celebration flags are available in shops. The Handleiding only asks that no decoration or addition is applied to the Dutch flag itself. A celebration flag with text is therefore a separate flag, not an altered tricolour. More is in the guide to flag types.

Celebrating after sunset

A party often goes on after sunset. According to the Dutch government, the custom is not to leave the flag out between sunset and sunrise, and it is good practice to light the flag if it stays out at night. How this is done is described in the guide to flag lighting. The other customs are in the guide to flag rules.