---
title: "Flag of Netherlands: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Netherlands flag stands for, its official 2:3 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/netherlands/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Netherlands

**The flag of Netherlands: Three equal horizontal bands of red, white and blue.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1937

*[Flag drawn on the page: Netherlands]*

The top band was orange for the first eighty years, after William of Orange, and drifted to red during the seventeenth century — probably because the vegetable dye faded to red at sea, though the change was never legislated. Queen Wilhelmina finally fixed the colour by decree in 1937 after fascist groups began flying the orange-white-blue version. On the king's birthday and other royal occasions an orange pennant is flown above the flag, which is the compromise the country settled on. This is the flag that Peter the Great copied for Russia, making it the ancestor of most Slavic tricolours.

## Flags it gets confused with

*[Flag drawn on the page: Netherlands, Luxembourg, Russia, France]*

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

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Luxembourg | Luxembourg's blue is a much lighter sky blue and its red is lighter too; it is also longer, at 3:5, against the Dutch 2:3. |
| Russia | Russia has white on top and red at the bottom — the Dutch flag inverted. |
| France | Same three colours, but France's bands are vertical. |

## 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.*

- **Red** (#AE1C28) — A bright vermilion, specified by royal decree in 1937
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — The central band
- **Blue** (#21468B) — A deep cobalt

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 1937
- **Colours:** red, white, blue

## Common questions

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

Three equal horizontal bands of red, white and blue.

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

Red: a bright vermilion, specified by royal decree in 1937. White: the central band. Blue: a deep cobalt.

### How do you tell the Netherlands flag from the Luxembourg one?

Luxembourg's blue is a much lighter sky blue and its red is lighter too; it is also longer, at 3:5, against the Dutch 2:3.

### When was the Netherlands flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1937, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Netherlands](https://atoneplace.net/country/netherlands/)
- [The flag of Luxembourg](https://atoneplace.net/flag/luxembourg/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [Every flag with red in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/red/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of Canada](https://atoneplace.net/flag/canada/)
- [The flag of China](https://atoneplace.net/flag/china/)
- [The flag of Germany](https://atoneplace.net/flag/germany/)
- [The flag of Italy](https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/)
- [The flag of Mexico](https://atoneplace.net/flag/mexico/)
- [The flag of Australia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/australia/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)