FLAG
The Dutch
flag is a tri-color emblem of red, white, and blue- in that order. At
first I thought it was a pretty lousy flag; boring and virtually identical
to the French one (except the Dutch stripes are horizontal). However,
over time I have grown to appreciate it, and now I actually think it's
a pretty good flag for Holland. As far as I am aware the colors don't
actually mean anything, and are just an adaptation of an ancient heraldic
crest of some sort. The colors are used a lot in advertising and marketing
however, and often when a Dutch company wants to market something as
authentically Dutch, the packaging will incorporate some version of
the red-white-blue motif into its design.
The Dutch are not
overtly patriotic, except on special events. As a result, the Dutch
flag is not a very common sight in Holland, and is usually only flown
from political buildings or tourist attractions. The other most common
location of the flag is on the back of Dutch boats. For centuries Dutch
sailors have fastened a flag to a short pole at the back of their ship,
and the tradition remains widespread to this day. No matter how small
or unassuming a boat may be, if it's Dutch nine times out of ten you
can guarantee there'll be a flag on it.
ORANGE
The name of
the Dutch dynasty that has ruled the Netherlands for most of its existence
is the House of Orange. In many ways the history of the House
of Orange is synonymous with the history of Holland, and as a result
the color orange is one of Holland's proudest national symbols. On patriotic
occasions, such as the week of an important soccer match or the Queen's
birthday, the color orange will appear everywhere, in the form of banners,
t-shirts, facepaint, balloons, giant novelty hats, and even fountain
dye. It can get a bit tacky at times.
NATIONAL
ANTHEM
The Dutch
national anthem is supposedly the world's oldest, but it's also one
of the strangest. It's basically just a short autobiographical summary
of Prince William of Orange, as sung by himself. So when you sing the
Dutch anthem you are essentially speaking as the prince, which sounds
a bit odd. Here are the lyrics, literally translated:
William of Nassau,
Am I, of German descent
Loyal to the fatherland
I will remain until I die
A Prince of Orange
Am I, free and fearless
The king of Spain
I have always honored
MONEY
As is the case in most of Western Europe, the
Dutch currency is the Euro (€ ). Previously the Dutch currency
was known as the Guilder (abbreviated as "fl" for some
reason), but from 1999 to 2002 it was slowly phased out. You still sometimes
see Guilder prices listed alongside Euros for comparison. Euro bills
are all very bland and undistinctive, because they are used in many
different countries and thus can't have any pictures that would be seen
to favor one country over another. The Euro coins, however, all have
different images on them. Dutch Euro coins always feature a highly stylized
portrait of Queen Beatrix on the reverse. It's very common to get Belgian
and German Euro coins mixed in with the Dutch change, so the occasional
German eagle or fat Belgian king are not uncommon sights either.