A flyer has been posted on a Facebook page aimed at a new asylum center in the North Holland village of Uithoorn. ‘Operation Red White Blue: fill the night with flags & stickers. The street is ours’, can be read in capitals on the flyer. “Fascist actions are supposed to make the country more beautiful??”, someone responds under the post. To which another says: “Flying the national tricolor is fascist? Could you please clarify that…”
The action called for by the flyer must take place on the night of October 28 to 29 – the night before the elections. But a number of Uithoorn residents couldn’t wait: last weekend the streets were already full of flags. In the larger streets there was a flag on every lamppost, says municipal councilor Els Gasseling (PvdA). The municipality has removed the flags because the lampposts are the property of the municipality and may not be used without permission. The waving of flags can also hinder road safety.
The municipality linked the action to a protest against an asylum center in Uithoorn, which will take place on Tuesday evening and reported that it had received several reports from residents who found the flag action intimidating. The latter led to outragesigned The Telegraph among other residents: the flag simply belongs to the Netherlands, right? The spokesperson for the organization behind the protest (Collectief AZC Uithoorn Weg Ermee) states that the flag action does not come from that collective, nor does the flyer for the action prior to the elections. “It is a public Facebook group, someone posted it there, but we have nothing to do with it.”
Yet, in addition to criticism (“This is Nazi propaganda”, “That poster has a huge 1930s/1940s vibe”, “The Netherlands is back in 40-45”), the flyer also receives a lot of support in the Facebook group (“The Netherlands is ours”, “Europe flooded with asylum seekers”). The Dutch flag is often waved at demonstrations against migration – as was the case during the anti-migration protest in Amsterdam last Sunday. What is the role of the Dutch flag in radical right protests? And what does that do to the associations that the flag evokes?
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‘Contaminated symbol’
Historical symbols are often appropriated by groups with a certain message, says historian Robin te Slaa, and that can permanently change the meaning of such a symbol. According to him, for example, the swastika was a commonly used symbol in Eurasian cultures, the Olympic salute was once an outstretched arm, and the Prince’s flag was originally a statement of support for William of Orange. But all these symbols have acquired a very specific meaning through “use in history,” says Te Slaa.
The fact that the Dutch flag is now also widely used in a far-right context does not mean that the flag will face the same fate as those other symbols, he thinks. The difference is that these other symbols became a “dominant” expression, while the tricolor is still hoisted in other contexts. “We hang it out on Liberation Day, at championships. The flag belongs to everyone.” This means that red-white-blue will not quickly become a “contaminated symbol”, as the Prince’s flag became after the NSB took it into use.
At the same time, says Te Slaa: “The way the flag is now used within certain groups must clearly have some kind of intimidating effect. It is used as a symbol of exclusion, rather than of association. The message it sends is ‘this is us, and you are not one of them’. That is very questionable.”
Athletes
“Disgusting,” says municipal councilor Gasseling. “I can well imagine that it is intimidating for non-white residents to see so many flags hanging when you know that they have been hung in the context of a right-wing demonstration. When ‘We are the Netherlands’ is chanted during such a demonstration, it is clear who is and is not meant by that.”
The flag belongs to our athletes who win a competition, our students who get their diploma and our citizens who celebrate King’s Day
Last month, a municipal committee meeting was disrupted by demonstrators banging on windows. The police had to intervene. Tuesday evening’s demonstration is again planned during a committee meeting on asylum reception. “You don’t want to experience something like that again, so I hope it remains calm tonight,” says Gasseling. The municipality has taken extra security measures, so the public and media are not allowed to attend the meeting.
It is not the case that “left-wing people have anything against the Dutch flag”, but they do have something against the use of that flag to exclude people, says Gasseling. She finds it “very sad” that this can create negative sentiment around the Dutch flag. “The Dutch flag should not inspire fear. The flag belongs to our athletes who win a competition, our students who get their diploma and our citizens who celebrate King’s Day. And that is what it should remain: a festive symbol.”
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