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Austrian Netherlands (1781-1786)

by Mario Fabretto

Country: Austrian Netherlands.
Type of flag: Civil ensign.
Date of use: 24 September 1781 - 31 December 1786.
Proportion: 2:3
Source: The Flag Bulletin [tfb] #32, 6/155 (1993)

Mario Fabretto, October 1998

Austrian Netherlands

See also:

Austrian Netherlands

Originally all "17" Dutch provinces (Burgundian kreits) revolted against the Spanish King Philip II, but in 1579 the southern provinces decided to stay loyal, and they remained Spanish. They became known as the Southern or Spanish Netherlands, since 1713 Austrian Netherlands, while the Northern Netherlands formed the Republic of the United Netherlands.
In 1814 they were reunited, together with the former prince-bishopric of Liege which was neutral untill then. However, the differences turned out to be too big and the South revolted to form Belgium in 1830.

The fields on the shield are:

Behind the Imperial Austrian eagle is the cross of Burgundy.

Mark Sensen, 9 November 1999

The southern provinces were ´convincedª to stay loyal by the Spanish army, and as a result, the entire intellectual elite from the Southern Netherlands moved to the Northern Netherlands.

Filip Van Laenen, 9 November 1999

Oostenrijkse Nederlanden (Pays Bas autrichiens), 1713-1795, that is from the end of the Spanish Succession War till the conquest by France. The country was divided in two by a broad stripe consisting of Sticht Luik (bishopric of Liege) and the abbey of Stavelot. 8 Cities in the Oostenrijkse Nederlanden were declared 'barrier cities' with a Dutch garrison until 1781; there were 8 redemptie-dorpen (redemption villages) northwest of Liege, which belonged to Staats-Brabant (the Dutch part of Brabant, now Noordbrabant). The whole territory was littered with enclaves, uncertain boundaries, etc.

Jarig Bakker, 9 November 1999