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Happy Belgian National Day

Day 2,435, 04:22 • Published in Belgium Poland

• by Teddy beer eBe

Greetings citizen,

Today is 21th of July and that means...

No matter if you are not Belgian in real life, as eBelgian, it's also a bit your Nday.

History

In 1830, drawing inspiration from the recent July Revolution in France, the southern provinces of the United Netherlands rebelled against Dutch rule after a period of growing economic and religious disparity and political alienation. The Dutch were forced out of much of the area and Belgium gained de facto independence. A National Congress was created to write a Constitution for the new state.

The Congress decided that the new country would be a constitutional monarchy (associated with political stability) rather a republic, in order to reassure foreign governments and the Belgian middle class who associated republicanism with "mob rule" in the aftermath of the French Revolution of 1789. The Congress called upon Leopold of Saxe-Cobourg-Gotha, a German nobleman, to be the first King of the Belgians on 4 June 1831.

Accepting the invitation, Leopold travelled to Brussels from England via Calais and De Panne by carriage. On 21 July, the temporary regent Erasme Louis Surlet de Chokier officially relinquished his position and Leopold was crowned King. In the ceremony, Leopold vowed to accept the Constitution drawn up by the National Congress, officially bringing it into force.

The 21 July 1831, is therefore a date commonly used by historians to denote the end of the Belgian Revolution and the start of the Kingdom of Belgium.

About the flag:
On August 26, 1830, the day after the rioting at the Brussels Opera and the start of the Belgian Revolution, the flag of France was flown from the city hall of Brussels. This was hastily replaced by a tricolour of red, yellow and black horizontal stripes made at a nearby fabric store, similar to the one used during the Brabant Revolution. As a result, Article 193 of the Constitution of Belgium describes the colours of the Belgian nation as Red, Yellow and Black instead of the order used in the above official flag.

On January 23, 1831, the stripes were changed from horizontal to vertical and October 12 saw the flag attain its modern form, with the black placed at the hoist side of the flag. It is suggested that the change was to more clearly distinguish the flag of Belgium from the Dutch flag, which also has three horizontal stripes, especially important during naval battles. Some think the change to vertical was a gesture of sympathy with the French, again clearly separating them from the Dutch.

Thanks for reading.