The Secret History Behind Belgium's Flag

Belgium's flag was horizontal before it was vertical.

The colors come from the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant, a golden lion on black with red claws and tongue. In the revolution of 1830, the French tricolour was flown at first. The first Belgian flag was a horizontal red, yellow and black.

On January 23, 1831, the National Congress wrote the tricolour into the Constitution, but did not say in which direction or order the bands should run. As a result, the official flag ended up with vertical stripes: black, yellow and red.

The date printed on every Belgium design in our catalog, October 4, 1830, is the day the provisional government proclaimed Belgium's independence from the Netherlands.

A lion's colors, turned upright by a gap in the law.

See the Belgium Grand Place Tee → · Browse the West Europe collection → — or explore the story behind any other country's flag on our free Flag Story Cards page.