# Flag of Friesland > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Flag_of_Friesland > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Flag_of_Friesland.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Friesland > Source revision: 1357156363 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Dutch. (November 2011) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Dutch article. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must follow the LLM translation guideline, revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Dutch Wikipedia article at [[:nl:Vlag van Friesland]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|nl|Vlag van Friesland}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation. Friesland Use Provincial flag Proportion 9:13 (de facto 2:3) Adopted 9 July 1957 Design The flag consists of four blue and three white diagonal stripes; the white stripes filling with a total of seven red pompeblêden. The **flag of Friesland** ([West Frisian](/source/West_Frisian_language): *Flagge fan Fryslân*; [Dutch](/source/Dutch_language): *Vlag Fryslân*) is the official flag of the [Dutch province](/source/Dutch_province) of [Friesland](/source/Friesland). The flag was officially adopted by the [provincial executive](/source/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 [seeblatts](/source/Seeblatt) (or *pompeblêden*, as they are called in West Frisian), leaves of the [yellow water-lily](/source/Nuphar_lutea), that may resemble hearts, but according to the official instructions "should not be [heart-shaped](/source/Heart_(symbol))". 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](/source/SC_Heerenveen) and the [Blauhúster Dakkapel](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blauh%C3%BAster_Dakkapel&action=edit&redlink=1) [[fy](https://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blauh%C3%BAster_Dakkapel)]. ## Symbolism The seven red *pompeblêden* are a reference to the Frisian "sea countries" in the [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages):[1] independent regions along the coast from [Alkmaar](/source/Alkmaar) to the [Weser](/source/Weser) who were allied against the [Vikings](/source/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](/source/West_Friesland_(historical_region)), [Westergoa](/source/Westergoa), [Eastergoa](/source/Eastergoa), [Hunsingo](/source/Hunsingo), [Fivelingo](/source/Fivelingo), [Emsingo](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Emsingo&action=edit&redlink=1), and [Jeverland](/source/Jeverland). The *pompeblêden* are used in other related flags such as the flag of the *[Ommelanden](/source/Ommelanden)* in neighbouring [Groningen Province](/source/Groningen_(province)), a historically Frisian area, and for a proposed pan-[Frisia](/source/Frisia) flag put forth by the [Groep fan Auwerk](/source/Groep_fan_Auwerk). ## History [Flag](/source/Flag) of [Friesland](/source/Friesland) on a [pole](/source/Flagpole) In the 13th century, a flag with *pompeblêden* is described in the Middle High German epic poem [Gudrunlied](/source/Kudrun): - 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. - ſêbleter ſwebent dar inne...[2] - [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...][3] 15th century books on [heraldry](/source/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 [billets](/source/Charge_(heraldry)#Common_charges), the other being the arms with the seven now known lilies on stripes.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] 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](/source/Provincial_executive) of Friesland on 9 July 1957.[1] ## See also - [Flags of Frisia](/source/Flags_of_Frisia) ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Province_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Province_1-1) ["Friese vlag, wapen en volkslied / Frysk flagge, wappen en folksliet"](https://web.archive.org/web/20170811222612/https://www.fryslan.frl/over-de-provincie/friese-vlag-logo-wapen-en-volkslied_3325/) (in Dutch and Western Frisian). [Province of Friesland](/source/Friesland). Archived from [the original](https://www.fryslan.frl/over-de-provincie/friese-vlag-logo-wapen-en-volkslied_3325/) on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Ernst Martin, ed. *Kudrun*. Halle a.S., Waisenhaus. 1902. p. 297 [https://archive.org/details/kudrunmart00martuoft/page/297/mode/1up](https://archive.org/details/kudrunmart00martuoft/page/297/mode/1up) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** 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](https://archive.org/details/gudrunmediaevale00nichiala/page/292/mode/1up) ## External links Media related to [Flags of Friesland](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Flags_of_Friesland) at Wikimedia Commons - [Site of the province of Friesland](https://web.archive.org/web/20120311042642/http://www.fryslan.nl/sjablonen/1/infotype/webpage/view.asp?objectID=3422) v t e Flags within the Kingdom of the Netherlands Kingdom Royal flags Countries Aruba Curaçao Netherlands Sint Maarten Provinces Drenthe Flevoland Friesland Gelderland Groningen Limburg North Brabant North Holland Overijssel South Holland Utrecht Zeeland Public bodies Bonaire Saba Sint Eustatius Municipalities Amsterdam Eindhoven Groningen Maastricht Rotterdam Scheveningen The Hague Utrecht Weert Regions Frisia Historical Netherlands Antilles Netherlands New Guinea Dutch Brazil Dutch Suriname Prince's Flag Statenvlag Batavian flag Dutch East India Company Dutch East Indies --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Flag of Friesland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Friesland) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Friesland?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.