The phenomenon is known as Oranjekoorts Orange Fever and becomes just as crazy as it sounds. Where orange originally symbolised the Dutch Royal Family, it soon became a symbol for Dutch national pride and the country at large. The flag was actually originally orange, white and blue, designed by William of Orange himself. Dutch soldiers during the War of Independence even wore this colour to battle. However, at the end of this war, the orange band was changed to red. Historians have a few theories as to why.
The first theory is that the dye used to stain the flags orange was prone to changing to a red colour over time, and so to avoid confusion the flag was officially changed to red. Other historians believe the change was a result of the English-Dutch defense treaty, which banned any member of the House of Orange from becoming head of the Dutch state. Theory three is that the new Dutch flag was based on the Bavarian coat of arms since between and the county of Holland had been ruled by their House of Wittelsbach.
But regardless of the switch, orange stuck around in Dutch hearts and continues to represent proud, loud Dutchness in all its quirks and charms. Wearing orange in the Netherlands will certainly win you brownie points on almost any day of the year. Except perhaps this day — April It was celebrated on April 30 but of course switched to April 27 when the king came to the throne. But since the change, many tourists have still arrived in the Netherlands fully dressed in orange on April 30 to celebrate the queen.
These oblivious enthusiasts became known as vergistoeristen — mistake tourists. Oh dear. You might see a little orange on Liberation Day , but certainly not to the degree of real Orange Fever. As the Dutch gained political power and sailed across the globe to colonise and conquer, their influence left substantial marks in the places they went.
This includes their use of the colour orange, which leaked into many flags, names and symbols we still see today. Many employees of the company retired here and bought farmlands, as well as African and Asian slaves to run the farms. But in , the Cape colony fell under British rule, who abolished slavery in the region in The Dutch Boers farmers , tired of paying taxes to the British and refusing to give up their slaves, departed on the Great Trek across Southern Africa to establish their own settlements where they could freely rule themselves.
The Afrikaaner Boers thus established, among others, the Orange Republic, almost smack bang in the middle of modern-day South Africa. It became an independent republic in , and of course, their flag had orange and white stripes, with the Dutch flag in the top left corner, for which the Dutch king gave his blessing. No points for guessing where the Orange River, which runs through this state, got its name from. Between and , the Union of South Africa, which later became the Republic of South Africa, had the flag depicted below.
After Apartheid , this flag changed to the stunning multi-coloured flag that South Africa has today with zero orange and the Orange Free State became simply the Free State. But the Orange River, which happens to be the longest one in the country, kept its name. Steering back to Europe now, believe it or not the orange stripe in the Irish flag also has its links to William of Orange.
This colour represents the minority Irish Protestants who supported William of Orange, and were also British Unionists. Irish Protestants, who were in conflict with their Catholic countrymen, opted to instead support William of Orange. As a result, they adopted the colour orange as a symbol of their Protestant Irish identity.
This is in contrast to the green of the Irish flag, which symbolises Catholic Irish republicanism. The white in the middle symbolises peace between these two groups. Ok, this is not a nation or a flag, but did you know that the orange colour of this vegetable is of Dutch doing? Carrots were originally purple, red, or white but the Dutch bred the root to become the distinct orange colour that we know it for today.
And of course, this change in colour was a tribute to old William of Orange. So there you have it! At first what appears to be a random Dutch preference for all things orange actually has a very complex history of meaning behind it, one which has reached into the far corners of the globe and Dutch tradition alike. Orange, because of the surname of their leader Willem van Oranje, and white and blue because of the colors of the uniform that he wore. This flag would eventually serve as the Dutch flag for more than half a century.
After his death, Willem van Oranje-Nassau was recognized as the hero of the Dutch nation. Eventually, the rebellion and war would last for many years to come, but in , the Netherlands was eventually announced independent.
As you probably already know, the Dutch flag nowadays consists of the colors red, white, and blue, as opposed to the orange-white-blue flag that was used by the Netherlands between and There are many theories as to why the orange color has disappeared and been replaced by the red color. One theory states that the color orange would have been made from plant-based pigments, causing the color to fade quickly. Another possible reason is that the flag would have been difficult to recognize by the ships at sea.
In addition, the red fabric was likely a lot cheaper and easier to obtain than the orange fabric. However, none of these theories are supported by solid pieces of evidence. In the centuries that followed, there have been many discussions in the Netherlands about the possibility of reintroducing orange in the Dutch flag.
The discussions never got anywhere, and as a result, the red-white-blue flag is still the national flag of the Netherlands. In addition, most people will only know of the distinctive orange carrot. However, they were actually yellow, white, or purple in the past.
In the 16th century, the Dutch agricultural sector was way ahead of the rest of the world. Because of this, the Dutch farmers succeeded in growing orange carrots. However, research determined that the orange carrots already existed even before this time. Regardless, after the Dutch people symbolized the color orange as their national color, the orange carrots were dedicated to the royal family Van Oranje-Nassau. The national anthem of the Netherlands is the Wilhelmus.
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Wilhelmus is the oldest national anthem in the world. The lyrics of the Wilhelmus were written around , though it was only announced as the official national anthem of the Netherlands in The Wilhelmus comprises a total of 15 couplets, and the lyrics describe the life of Willem van Oranje-Nassau. Nowadays, the royal Dutch family is still very popular and orange has become a symbol of unity for the whole country.
Most countries celebrate their monarchy with a prompt ceremony, but not the Dutch. There are also street-corner musicians and many, MANY, parties. Imagine millions of people on the street partying while wearing the colour orange, that basically sums it up. It is usually celebrated on the 27th of April. Make sure to pack something orange!
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