Farmers in the Beemster hang the Dutch tricolor with the red side up again. The flags were hung upside down along the road and in the yard during the farmers’ protests in recent years. Now the call is to turn them around again: they have already started doing that in the Beemster.
“It was a necessary evil that we had to do,” says Gerjan Waal. This morning he is one of the first in the Beemster to wear the Dutch tricolor properly again. The monster victory of the BoerenBurgerBeweging (BBB) is a sign for Gertjan that he and his fellow farmers are greatly supported by the rest of the Netherlands. “I’m emotional about it,” he says. “I was quite swallowed last night that you think wow, what support we get.”
In the app groups of farmers, it is meanwhile circulating to hang the Dutch flag right side up again. For some farmers that will be quite a job because some have hung the entire pasture full. Harry Heeman only has one flag in front of his house and he also hangs it properly today. Last night was also a relief for him. “Look at 1-0 and now on. We’re going back to work and the BBB has to get to work too.”