Royal Standard of the Netherlands

. This standard is a non-personal distinctive flag for the Sovereign of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Non-personal means that it is not changed to the individual person who fulfills the kingship.

The Royal Standard is a square orange flag, divided in four quarters by a nassau-blue cross. These colours refer to the principalities of Orange (in France) and Nassau (in Germany) from which the present royal family originates.In the center of the flag is the (small) coat of arms of the Kingdom, surmounted by a royal crown and surrounded by the insignia of the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Willem.Each quarter shows a bugle-horn which originates in arms of the principality of Orange.

The Royal Standard is flown above Huis ten Bosch Palace in The Hague (the Queen's private residence) and above Noordeinde Palace in The Hague (the Queen's official residence) when the Sovereign is in the Netherlands, not necessarily when she is actually in the palace.Besides these two residences, the Royal Standard is flown on other palaces, castles or estates when the Queen is actually staying there.

ources

* [http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/english/content.jsp?objectid=13336 Website: Dutch Royal House. English text about the standard]
* [http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl/content.jsp?objectid=4479 Website: Dutch Royal House. Image of the standard in the Dutch language section.]
* [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/nl-royal.html Website: Flags of the World]