{{Short description|none}} {{expand Dutch|topic=cult|date=November 2011|Vlag van Friesland}} {{Infobox flag | Name = Friesland | Image = Frisian flag.svg | Alt = Flag of Friesland | Noborder = | Nickname = | Morenicks = | Use = [[Flags of the provinces of the Netherlands|Provincial flag]] | Symbol = {{FIAV|110000}} {{FIAV|normal}} {{FIAV|Mirror}} | Proportion = 9:13 (de facto 2:3) | Adoption = 9 July 1957 | Relinquished = | Design = The flag consists of four blue and three white diagonal stripes; the white stripes filling with a total of seven red ''[[Pompeblêd|pompeblêden]]''. | Designer = }} The '''flag of Friesland''' ([[West Frisian language|West Frisian]]: ''Flagge fan Fryslân''; {{langx|nl|Vlag Fryslân}}) is the official flag of the [[Dutch province]] of [[Friesland]]. The flag was officially adopted by the [[provincial executive]] of Friesland on 9 July 1957.
It consists of four blue and three white diagonal stripes; in the white stripes are a total of seven red [[seeblatt]]s (or ''pompeblêden'', as they are called in West Frisian), leaves of the [[Nuphar lutea|yellow water-lily]], that may resemble hearts, but according to the official instructions "should not be [[Heart (symbol)|heart-shaped]]".
The Frisian flag is probably the best known and most recognizable Dutch provincial flag. It flies abundantly during (inter)national skating competitions and is also used by one of the largest and oldest dairy producers. Moreover, the design is the basis of the home jerseys of the football clubs [[SC Heerenveen]] and the {{ill|Blauhúster Dakkapel|fy}}.
== Symbolism ==
The seven red ''pompeblêden'' are a reference to the Frisian "sea countries" in the [[Middle Ages]]:<ref name=Province>{{cite web |url=https://www.fryslan.frl/over-de-provincie/friese-vlag-logo-wapen-en-volkslied_3325/ |language=nl, fy |title=Friese vlag, wapen en volkslied / Frysk flagge, wappen en folksliet |publisher=[[Friesland|Province of Friesland]] |accessdate= 7 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811222612/https://www.fryslan.frl/over-de-provincie/friese-vlag-logo-wapen-en-volkslied_3325/ |archive-date=11 August 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> independent regions along the coast from [[Alkmaar]] to the [[Weser]] who were allied against the [[Vikings]]. There were never precisely seven distinct regions, but the number seven probably has the connotation "many." Some sources hold, however, that there have been seven Frisian lands: [[West Friesland (historical region)|West Friesland]], [[Westergoa]], [[Eastergoa]], [[Hunsingo]], [[Fivelingo]], [[Emsingo]], and [[Jeverland]].
The ''pompeblêden'' are used in other related flags such as the flag of the ''[[Ommelanden]]'' in neighbouring [[Groningen (province)|Groningen Province]], a historically Frisian area, and for a proposed pan-[[Frisia]] flag put forth by the [[Groep fan Auwerk]].
== History == [[File:Fryske Flagge oan flaggestok.jpg|thumb|[[Flag]] of [[Friesland]] on a [[flagpole|pole]]]]
In the 13th century, a flag with ''pompeblêden'' is described in the Middle High German epic poem [[Kudrun|Gudrunlied]]:
: Noch ſihe ich hie bî weiben einen vanen breit : von wolkenblâwen ſîden. daȥ ſi iu geſeit: : den bringet uns her Herwîc dâ her von Sêlande. : <U>ſêbleter</U> ſwebent dar inne...<ref>Ernst Martin, ed. ''Kudrun''. Halle a.S., Waisenhaus. 1902. p. 297 https://archive.org/details/kudrunmart00martuoft/page/297/mode/1up</ref>
: [There I see uplifted a flag outspreading wide; : Of sky-blue silk 'tis woven. The truth I will not hide; : Herwic bears this banner, he in the Sealands dwelling. : Sea-leaves are shown upon it...]<ref>Mary Pickering Nichols, trans. ''Gudrun: A Mediaeval Epic''. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. 1889. p. 292. https://archive.org/details/gudrunmediaevale00nichiala/page/292/mode/1up</ref>
15th century books on [[heraldry]] show that two armorial bearings were derived from the early ones: a coat of arms showing lions and seven ''pompeblêden'' (water lilies) transformed into [[Charge (heraldry)#Common charges|billets]], the other being the arms with the seven now known lilies on stripes.{{Citation Needed|date=March 2025}}
The current design was officially approved in 1897 and was first used by the provincial government in 1927. The flag was officially adopted by the [[provincial executive]] of Friesland on 9 July 1957.<ref name=Province/>
==See also== *[[Flags of Frisia]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline|Flags of Friesland}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120311042642/http://www.fryslan.nl/sjablonen/1/infotype/webpage/view.asp?objectID=3422 Site of the province of Friesland] {{DutchFlags}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Friesland, Flag of}} [[Category:Flags of the provinces of the Netherlands]] [[Category:Culture of Friesland|Flag]] [[Category:Flags introduced in 1957]] [[Category:Flags with blue, red and white]]