---
title: "Flag of Belgium: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Belgium flag stands for, its official 13:15 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/belgium/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Belgium

**The flag of Belgium: Three equal vertical bands of black, yellow and red, on a nearly square flag.**

Ratio 13:15 · current design adopted 1831

*[Flag drawn on the page: Belgium]*

The colours are read straight off the Brabant coat of arms — a gold lion with red claws on a black field — which is why the order looks arbitrary until you see the shield. The 13:15 ratio is the squarest of any national flag other than the two that are actually square, and it is widely ignored: most Belgian flags sold are 2:3. The 1831 constitution specified the bands as vertical, reversing the horizontal arrangement used during the 1830 revolution. Germany uses the same three colours horizontally, which is the confusion worth naming.

## Flags it gets confused with

*[Flag drawn on the page: Belgium, Germany]*

*Drawn at each flag’s own official ratio, which is itself the difference in some of these pairs.*

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Germany | Germany's bands are horizontal and its ratio is 3:5; the third colour is gold rather than yellow. |

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Black** (#000000) — From the shield of the Duchy of Brabant
- **Yellow** (#FAE042) — The Brabant lion
- **Red** (#ED2939) — The lion's claws and tongue

- **Ratio:** 13:15
- **Current design adopted:** 1831
- **Colours:** black, yellow, red

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Belgium look like?

Three equal vertical bands of black, yellow and red, on a nearly square flag.

### What do the colours of the Belgium flag mean?

Black: from the shield of the Duchy of Brabant. Yellow: the Brabant lion. Red: the lion's claws and tongue.

### How do you tell the Belgium flag from the Germany one?

Germany's bands are horizontal and its ratio is 3:5; the third colour is gold rather than yellow.

### When was the Belgium flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1831, and its official ratio is 13:15.

## Related pages

- [Belgium](https://atoneplace.net/country/belgium/)
- [The flag of Germany](https://atoneplace.net/flag/germany/)
- [Every flag with black in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/black/)
- [The flag of South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-korea/)
- [The flag of South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-africa/)
- [The flag of Jamaica](https://atoneplace.net/flag/jamaica/)
- [The flag of Egypt](https://atoneplace.net/flag/egypt/)
- [The flag of Palestine](https://atoneplace.net/flag/palestine/)
- [The flag of United Arab Emirates](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-arab-emirates/)
- [The flag of Mozambique](https://atoneplace.net/flag/mozambique/)
- [The flag of Kenya](https://atoneplace.net/flag/kenya/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]