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Twijzel (The Netherlands)
Achtkarspelen municipality, Fryslân province
Last modified: 2018-12-15 by rob raeside
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adopted 1998; design: Mr. J.C. Terluin of Beetsterzwaag.
See also:
Twijzel village
Twijzel / Twizel (1089 inh) - Its old name was Optwizel, meaning: at the
junction. The road from Groningen to Leeuwarden runs through the village
and forks with the old road from Groningen to Drachten. This fork is symbolized
in the flag. The Coat of Arms has a nice rendition of the most useful FOTW-animal.
The gaff is black, because the old roads were nearly always black by
mud, while modern roads are black because of asphalt. The ywlloe color
points at the sandy soil. On high grounds was agricultural land, mostly
west of the road, where formerly rye was grown. In the dexter part of the
Coat of Arms is therefore an oar of rye. East of the road most of the ground was
meadow-land, wherefore on the sinister part of the arms a green clover-leaf
is depicted.
In Twijzel were formerly two mills: a "pelmolen" for buckwheat,
and a rye-mill. To remind of that a grain of buckwheat has been put in
the top triangle. The Twijzelaars were formerly nicknamed "wezelingen",
and this is represented on the red heartshield in the center of the Coat of Arms
Red for the village itself, the silver weasel for the inhabitants. The
colors red and silver/white are derived from the Achtkarspelen Coat of Arms. The
flag is a color-representation of the ar,s, in which the gaff is the main
symbol.
Source: Wapens en vlaggen in de gemeente Achtkarspelen, Buitenpost
1999.
Whow!! This flag is almost exactly the same as the South
African national flag, apart from the different colourscheme. I would
love to know who the designer of this flag was and which of the two flags
saw the light of day first.
André van de Loo, 9 May 2003
The arms and the flag for Twijzel were designed in 1998 by Mr. J.C.
Terluin of Beetsterzwaag. The flag is based on the arms and it is per chance
that it resembles the flag of South Africa. The designer did not have the
South African flag in mind when he drew the flag for Twijzel. Only when
the design was discussed by the Fryske Rie foar Heraldyk (Frisian Heraldic
Council) was the resemblance mentioned. Because the flag of Twijzel deviates
sufficiently from the South African flag, the Council did not feel that
there was sufficient reason to necessitate a change in design.
Rudolf J. Broersma, designer Fryske Rie foar Heraldyk, 12 May
2003
Twijzel Coat of Arms
from the Achtkarspelen municipal
website.