Last modified: 2018-12-15 by rob raeside
Keywords: achterhoek |
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image by Johan Visschedijk, 1 August 2018
I live in the town Groenlo in the municipality Oost-Gelre in the region
Achterhoek in the Netherlands. On 10 July 2018, in presence of many celebrities
and media (including the leading ANP), a region flag was officially unveiled.
Flag of the Achterhoek.
The promoters of the flag were the famous brewery Grolsch (founded 400 years
ago in Groenlo J) and the organizers of a major annual event, the Zwarte
Cross. The region has no central administration, and although the flag
originates from a private initiative, many municipalities in the region have
started to use the flag. The flag was designed by Paul Heutinck of
Winterswijk. Here the official press release text (the mentioned “Achterhoeker”
is a person living in the Achterhoek:
Paul's design is inspired by the typical Achterhoek landscape. The gradation of the light green areas with the dark green areas is a strongly stylized representation of the meadows and forests that characterize the Achterhoek, among other things. The atypical cross that runs through between these planes represents the winding roads with trees along them, which are connected to each other and connect this flag! At the same time it also stands for the idiosyncrasy and strength of the Achterhoeker. The professional jury states: "As a jury, we quickly agreed that the flag should be powerful; no slogan, no fuss but beautiful by simplicity like flags.Here is a random Google Maps image of the area east of Winterswijk, where the designer was referring to: https://www.google.ca/maps/