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Aalsmeer (The Netherlands)

Noord-Holland province

Shipmate Flagchart : http://www.flagchart.net

Municipal flag
Flag with Arms
Aalsmeer Coat of Arms

Villages in Aalsmeer:

Kudelstaart

See also:

Municipal flag

Aalsmeer in Noordholland is rather famous because of its flower-auctions, from where tulips and hyacinths are sent all over the world in no time, because of the close vicinity of Schiphol Airport.
It had (1 Jan 1999) 22.540 inhabitants on 21.88 ha., and consisted of Aalsmeer (seat), Kalslagen, Kudelstaart, Oosteinde, and Vrouwentroost.
Ever since its foundation Aalsmeer had to struggle with the "waterwolf", mainly the big Haarlemmermeer; after that inland lake had been made into a "polder", Aalsmeer could develop into the thriving community it is now.
This struggle is more or less symbolized in the municipal arms: a red lion on a blue field, holding an eal. The eal (Dutch: aal) makes the Coat of Arms canting, but the slippery nature of that fish symbolizes also the often apparent fruitless struggle against the water. The lion is of course the Holland lion. The Coat of Arms was granted 26 June 1816.
The flag was adopted on 7 April 1976, and is described by Sierksma's Nederlands Vlaggenboek [sie62):
"Three equally wide horizontal stripes of red, green, and black.
This flag is not official, but is used widely. It is a rather old flag, as can be gathered from the explanation of the colors. These are related to the cultivation of raspberries, a very popular product in Aalsmeer in the 19th century, but now discontinued. Red symbolizes the raspberry itself, the green its leaves and plant, and black to roots and earth.
There is no connection between flag and Coat of Arms."
Jarig Bakker, 7 May 2003

Flag with Arms

image by Ivan Sache, 17 May 2009

On 15 May 2009, "Witte Weekblad" reports the production of a new flag for the next town's festival, combining the colours of the flag and the lion of the coat of arms. As shown on a photo, the new flag is indeed the traditional flag of Alsmeer, horizontally divided red-green-black with the municipal coat of arms.
This image was produced using the elements from the FOTW website (the source of the coat of arms is dead)
According to the "Heraldry of the World" website, the colour of the eel is ill-defined. The official description says "proper", which is open to all kinds of interpretation.
My trousers are used to catch eels.
Ivan Sache, 17 May 2009

Aalsmeer Coat of Arms

image from this website. (link doesn't work any more, ed.)

Kudelstaart

image located by Valentin Poposki, 16 May 2021

Kudelstaart is the only village in Aalsmeer municipality. The flag was adopted in 2020 https://www.meerbode.nl/kudelstaartse-vlag-in-de-top-op-het-raadhuis/
Valentin Poposki, 16 May 2021

The flag of Kudelstaart was created for the celebration of 750 years Kudelstaart, but that's not actually in the article. All it says
here is that Prince Carnival and the burgomaster raised the flag together.

The comment section mentions that Kudelstaart conquered Aalsmeer and occupied the town hall.

Here is an explanation about the municipal flag with shield https://www.meerbode.nl/aalsmeerse-vlag-voor-zorgcentra/
This is the explanation that both the original flag of Aalsmeer and the same with arms on it are private initiatives. According to the article the municipality played no role in it so far, which like is the same thing as for the Kudelstaart flag. This might give an impression of why Fryslân has an heraldic council.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 16 May 2021