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Grootegast (The Netherlands)

Groningen province

Shipmate Flagchart : http://www.flagchart.net
adopted 3 Sep 1991

Grootegast municipality
Grootegast Coat of Arms
Grootegast old flag

Other Grootegast pages:

See also:

Grootegast municipality

Number of inhabitants (1 Jan 2003): 12.274; area: 88,29 km². Settlements: Grootegast (seat), Doezum, Enumatil (part), Faan, Kornhorn, Lutjegast, Niekerk, Oldekerk, Opende, Sebaldeburen
Grootegast is in southwest Groningen, where the borders of Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe meet. It is a rural area - 'gast' meaning: sandy soil. Abel Tasman, the 17th century discoverer of New Zealand, was born in Lutjegast within Grootegast municipality. On 1 Jan 1990 Grootegast merged with Oldekerk to form the new municipality of Grootegast.
The horizontal red bar with pinnacles refers to the castle on the Coat of Arms, which was that of Langewold, a division of the old region of
'Westerkwartier'; the castle refers to the castle in Sebaldeburen, the old capital of Langewold.
Jarig Bakker, 8 November 1999

Grootegast Coat of Arms

image from the Grootegast municipal website.
Granted 2 Feb 1889.

The arms are: argent a castle gules on a terrace vert.

Grootegast old flag

by Jarig Bakker, 7 Apr 2005
adopted 3 Sep 1978

Grootegast old municipal flag: Horizontal stripes of white - red - green - white; white and red embattled; green and white wavy.
The field is white, based on the field of the municipal arms; in white two colors (red and green) - the embattlements are derived from the arms and symbolize the villages in the municipality. Green is derived from the arms too; the waves remind of the old watercourse of the Hoendiep.
Flag adopted 3 Sep 1978
Source: Vexilla Nostra no. 102 (1979): 39 (letter by the municipality)
After the merger with Oldekerk in 1990 the new municipality of Grootegast adopted a new flag.
Jarig Bakker, 7 Apr 2005