Kids, buckle up because this isn't going to be your simple, easy and kind of boring tricolor. Nope, this one is complicated and it all starts and ends with William The Silent, the first Prince of Orange*, who lead a revolt against Spanish rule in the Netherlands that culminated in their Declaration of Independence, the Act of Abjuration of 1581. Partly out of respect for him, they adopted what was an orange, white and blue tricolor (since he was from the House of Orange-Nassau) but the orange had a tendency to fade to red with time, it was made the official color by the mid-17th century and here's the mind blowing part: this flag wasn't officially confirmed by Royal Decree until 1937**. It's first recorded appearance was in 1572 making this by far, the oldest tricolor in the world.
If the history isn't enough for you and you're still thinking 'b-b-b-but Tom, it's a tricolor and they're boooooooring' well, get a load of this:
It's called 'The Prinsengeus' and it's the official naval jack of the Netherlands.
So, kids, put your hands together for The Netherlands and remember, until next time, keep your flags flying. FREAK or otherwise!
*Crazily enough, William the Silent is also believed to be the first Head of State assassinated by a handgun in world history.
**The Dutch had a Republic for awhile that somehow morphed into a Kingdom. It's sort of confusing yet really cool at the same time. Our Founding Fathers were pretty pumped by the Republic part anyway. The flag was adopted for national and civil usage on February 19th, 1937.
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