Flying the flags of other countries in the Netherlands

Flags of other countries are a regular sight in the Netherlands: at hotels and businesses with foreign guests, at sporting events, at embassies and at commemorations of the liberation. Because the Netherlands has no flag law, this is free. For the order when the Dutch flag flies alongside, the Handleiding voor het gebruik van de Nederlandse vlag applies. This guide sets out the rules and customs.

What is allowed?

According to the Dutch government, no law prohibits flag flying or prescribes how it is done. That also applies to flags of other countries: a private individual or business can raise another country’s flag, with or without the Dutch flag beside it. The ordinary building rules do apply to the flagpole. Anyone putting up several poles is affected by the limit of one permit-free pole per yard, as described in the guide to flagpole installation.

The Dutch flag in the position of honour

When the Dutch flag flies beside foreign flags, the Handleiding gives it the position of honour on Dutch territory:

• With two flags, the Dutch flag flies on the right, counted with one’s back to the flags.
• With three flags, the Dutch flag flies in the middle.
• All flags are the same size and, where possible, fly at the same height.

The order of the countries

According to the Handleiding, the order among flags of other countries is generally determined by the first letter of the country names in French. Germany (Allemagne) thus comes before Belgium (Belgique), and the United Kingdom (Royaume-Uni) after France. For the details of this rule, the Handleiding refers to the Protocol Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Municipalities work the rule out for their own buildings. According to Zaanstad’s flag instruction, when several countries are represented the Dutch flag stays in the middle, the municipal flag is left out and the foreign flags fly on either side in the order of their French names: the first country on the right, the second on the left. If one foreign flag flies beside the Dutch one, Zaanstad places it on the right-hand pole and the municipal flag on the left. More is in the guide to flag protocol.

Times and half-mast

According to the Handleiding, Dutch and foreign flags ought not to fly between sunset and sunrise unless they are lit so that their colours are clearly visible. At a commemoration, foreign flags can also fly at half-mast, in the same way as the Dutch flag. More is in the guides to flag rules and half-mast.

Liberation Day

On 5 May, according to the National 4 and 5 May Committee, the Dutch flag can fly together with flags of countries involved in the liberation, alongside the municipal and provincial flags. That day the tricolour flies at full mast without a pennant.

The European flag

The general flag instruction does not mention the European flag. Some municipalities raise it on 9 May, Europe Day. According to Zaanstad’s flag instruction, the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) and the European Union have asked for the European flag to be flown that day, and Zaanstad then raises it on a limited basis, at the town hall and the Harbour Office. Other municipalities may choose differently.

Flags of the Kingdom

According to the Royal House, the Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Each country has its own flag. On Kingdom Day, 15 December, the Charter for the Kingdom signed by Queen Juliana on 15 December 1954 is commemorated. According to the Royal House, the flag flies that day on all main buildings of the central government.

At businesses and hotels

Hotels, conference centres and international companies often raise the flags of their guests’ or branches’ countries. For them the protocol is a custom, not a duty, but many businesses follow the same order as the government. More is in the guide to flagpoles for businesses. The fixed flag days are in the guide to flag days.