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Luxembourg

Luxemburg, Lëtzebuerg - Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Last modified: 2003-08-21 by ivan sache
Keywords: luxembourg | luxemburg | letzebuerg | europe | lion (red) | rode lew | civil ensign | air ensign | law |
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[Flag of Luxembourg]by António Martins

Flag first hoisted in 1845-1848, officially adopted 23 June 1972 (adoption in effect 16 August 1972), coat of arms adopted 23 June 1972, modified 14 September 2001.
Description: Three horizontal stripes, red-white-light blue.
Proportion: 3:5 (or 1:2)
Use: on land, civil, State and war flag.

Colour official specifications (Grand Duke's regulation from 27 July 1993):

  • Red: Pantone 032 c
  • Blue: Pantone 299 c
  • Yellow (on the ensign): 116c

Colour approximate specifications (as given in Album des Pavillons [pay00]):

  • Red: CMYK (%) C 0 - M 90 - Y 85 - K 0
  • Blue: CMYK (%) C 85 - M 20 - Y 0 - K 0
  • Yellow: CMYK (%) C 0 - M 15 - Y 95 - K 0

On this page:

See also:

History of Luxembourg

At the Congress of Vienna in 1814/1815, when the Kingdom of the Netherlands was founded, King William I (of Orange-Nassau) also received Luxembourg as a compensation for the loss of the Nassau lands in Germany. It was placed under the Dutch Constitution, in practice becoming the 18th province. But it also became a Grand Duchy and was member of the German Confederation.

In 1830 Luxembourg participated in the Belgian revolt. In 1839 an agreement was reached, in which the western part of Luxembourg remained Belgian as a province. The eastern part returned to the Dutch King, but the administration of the Kingdom and Grand Duchy were separated. Until 1866 the Grand Duchy was member of the German Confederation, the loss of the Walloon part being compensated for the Germans with the Dutch part of Limburg as a Duchy.

When in 1890 King William III died, there was no male successor. Luxembourg then became fully independent under the Nassau-Weilburg branch.

Mark Sensen, 17 May 2002

History of the flag

The arms of Luxembourg date from the medieval times. Probably these are the Limburgian arms, diffentiated by changing the silver background into ten silver and blue stripes.

Flags in the colours of the arms (red, white and blue) were first used in 1830 during the Belgian revolt. The flag was defined as horizontal tricolour on 12 June 1845.

Source: Crampton's The World of Flags [cra90]

Mark Sensen, 17 May 2002

The law prescribing the flag was adopted on 23 June 1972 and published in the Mémorial. Journal officiel du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg A-N51 on 16 August 1972.
On the same date was adopted a water canal transport ensign and at the same time air ensign.

Pascal Vagnat,, 15 April 1999

The reasons why these emblems were adopted so lately is simple:

  • concerning the national flag there weren't any laws protecting this emblem(as well as the arms of the state and of the Great Duke), which any country in the world could adopt as its emblems (don't forget that many states became independent at that time, especially in Africa) or which could be misused by everyone.The other reason is that UNESCO wanted to have the laws and history of the Luxembourg flag at that time.
  • concerning the ensign, same reason of emblem protection and also the fact that this ensign was unofficially already used by canal transport crafts on the Mosel to differenciate them from the Dutch crafts.The canalisation of the Mosel in the 60s and 70s which made Dutch boats capable to go to Luxembourg, with the problem of knowing who was who, urged the governement to take measures.

Pascal Vagnat, 10 May 1996

Before 1972, the blue stripe was of any shade, e.g., Flaggenbuch [neu92] shows dark blue without ratio specification, as is to be expected.

Zeljko Heimer, 16 May 2002

Alternative national flag

[Alternative national flag]by António Martins

Similar to the flag shown above, but in proportion 1:2.

Source: Album des Pavillons [pay00]

People or the authorities can use (and in fact use) both 3:5 and 1:2 flags, though the 3:5 model is the more common and the 1:2 seems to be rare.

Pascal Vagnat, 17 May 2002

Netherlands vs. Luxembourg flags

The flags of the Netherlands and of Luxembourg (as they are known internationally) are similar, but not the same, and it's just a coincidence, nothing to do with having any common origin. The colours of Luxembourg are derived from the coat of arms. Recently the blue has been defined as 299 in the Pantone Matching System, unlike the 286 blue in the flag of the Netherlands. It was laid down some time ago that the proportions of the flag would be 3:5 or 1:2, unlike the Dutch flag, which is always 2:3.

However, because the flags still look similar at a distance, Luxembourg has a distinct flag for use on civil vessels on the Rhine and elsewhere. It is a banner of the arms.

William Crampton, 20 March 1995

Ensign

[Ensign]by António Martins & Mark Sensen

The ensign has ten white and blue stripes and a red lion over all. The proportions are 5:7. The name of this ensign is the rode lew (red lion). It is a banner of the lesser national arms.

 

The ensign was established by a Law on National Emblems of 23 June 1972. The illustrations appended to the text are just a picturial information, they don't belong to the law:

Les armoiries du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, le drapeau national et le pavillon de la batellerie et de l'aviation sont reproduits en annexe à la présente loi, le texte seul faisant foi.

Before 1990, this flag was the water canal transport ensign and at the same time air ensign.

 

The law of the 9th of November 1990 concerning the creation of a Luxembourg public maritime register made of the ensign also a sea ensign (civil, merchant, and why not state).

Les navires immatriculés au registre sont tenus d'arborer le pavillon luxembourgeois qui comme le pavillon de la batellerie et de l'aviation défini à l'article 4 de la loi du 23 juin 1972 sur les emblèmes nationaux, se compose d'une laize de tissus aux proportions de 7 à 5 comportant un burelé d'argent et d'azur de dix pièces au lion rampant de gueules, orienté vers la hampe, couronné, armé et lampassé d'or, la queue fourchue et passée en sautoir. La description du revers correspond à celle de l'avers.

Source: Loi du 9 novembre 1990 ayant pour objet la création d'un registre public maritime luxembourgeois

 

The article 4 of the law of 17th June 1994 doesn't name at all the ensign le pavillon de batellerie et de l'aviation and mentions only le pavillon luxembourgeois, that is the ensign of Luxembourg.

Source: Loi du 17 juin 1994 modifiant et complétant la loi du 9 novembre 1990 ayant pour objet la création d'un registre public maritime luxembourgeois

 

In the law of 1997 about yachting, Article 1 defines again the ensign of Luxembourg, as follows:

Pavillon luxembourgeois :

Le pavillon luxembourgeois est le pavillon tel que défini à l'article 4 de la loi modifiée du 23 juin 1972 sur les emblèmes nationaux. Il se compose d'une laize de tissus aux proportions de 7 à 5 comportant un burelé d'argent et d'azur de dix pièces au lion rampant de gueules, orienté vers la hampe, couronné, armé et lampassé d'or, la queue fourchue et passée en sautoir. La description du revers correspond à celle de l'avers.

The ensign of Luxembourg shall therefore be used by:

  • ships registered in the Luxembourg maritime register, be they yachting ships or transport ships
  • ships registered in the inland water register, be they yachting ships or transport ships;

In that last case, the proper name of the ensign is "ensign for inland transport ships", for it was used first for these kind of ships.
According to the law of 1997, yachting ships (at sea or on inland rivers) shall fly the ensign of Luxembourg. (Article 10: effets de l'immatriculation).

Source: Loi du 23 septembre 1997 portant réglementation de la navigation de plaisance et portant modification de certaines autres dispositions légales

 

The square version of the ensign is also the obverse of the army flag and the obverse of the Gendarmerie flag.

Pascal Vagnat, 8 March 2003