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Defense Department (The Netherlands)

Ministerie van Defensie

by Mark Sensen, 5 Oct 2003

Minister of Defense
Minister of Navy
Secretary of State of Defence
Chief of Staff flag - former flag
Inspector General
Department of Defense
Royal Navy (Koninklijke Marine)
Royal Landforce (Koninklijke Landmacht)
Royal Airforce (Koninklijke Luchtmacht)
Command Service Centers (Commando DienstenCentra)

Other Defense pages:

See also:

Minister of Defense

Information based on Album 2000 with details VVKM9 (official flag regulations for the Dutch navy).
The Minister of Defence (Dutch: Minister van Defensie) uses a white flag (2:3) with along the top and the bottom three horizontal stripes red, white and blue, each 1/12th of the flag height. At the centre of the flag a foul anchor with on top of it the lion from the national arms. Placed under it the motto "Je Maintiendrai" (that is French, meaning: I shall maintain) in latin letters. Placed above this the air force eagle, all in gold.
Adopted by Order in Council on 10 April 1957.
The emblem is taken (and modified a little) from the image at the Shipmate site.
About <nl~mindf.gif> at <nl~minis.html>: this was the flag of the Minister of Navy (Minister van Marine). In 1958 the Ministry of War (Ministerie van Oorlog) and Ministry of Navy were merged to form the Ministry of Defense. The title Minister of Defense was introduced in 1956, both ministries were already lead by the same person from 1947.
Mark Sensen, 5 Oct 2003

Flag of the Minister of Navy

from Shipmate's Flagchart

Flag of the Secretary of State of Defence

by Mark Sensen, 5 Oct 2003

Secretary of State for Defence. Seven equal horizontal stripes red-white-blue-white-red-white-blue.
Adopted by Order in Council on 20 October 1971.
Mark Sensen, 5 Oct 2003

Chief of Staff

by Mark Sensen, 5 Oct 2003

Chief of Defence Staff (Chef Defensiestaf). Seven equal horizontal stripes red-white-blue-white-red-white-blue, with in the centre a green circle with a diameter 4/10th of the flag height. In this circle four swords.
Adopted with three sword by Order of the Minister of Defence on 13 December 1974.
I assume the swords stand for the military branches: navy, army, air force and (service independent from the army in 1998) marechaussee (military police).
Mark Sensen, 5 Oct 2003

In Vexilla Nostra [vxn] 238 (July-September 2003) I found the confirmation that the swords stand for the military branches, and that the marechaussee became independent from the army in 1998.
However, it also says that the the handles of the old version were brown, while at the new version they are yellow. At my GIFs I had them both light brown. The blades are white, which I forgot to mention.
Mark Sensen, 18 Oct 2003

Chief of Staff former flag

by Mark Sensen, 5 Oct 2003

Inspector General

by Mark Sensen, 5 Oct 2003

Inspector General Armed Forces (Inspecteur-Generaal der Krijgsmacht).
Seven equal horizontal stripes red-white-blue-white-red-white-blue, with in the centre a circle with a diameter 4/10th of the flag height. This shows in circular form the emblem of the Inspector General, which is orange with a blue cross over all, the lion from the national arms on the centre of the cross.
Adopted by Order of the Minister of Defence on 26 March 1982.
The Inspector General of the Netherlands Armed Forces is the ombudsman for the Defence organisation. The functions of Inspector General for the Army (est. 1945), Inspector General for the Navy (est. 1946) and Inspector General for the Air Force (est. 1953) were merged on 1 January 1970. All these functions were until 1976 held by Prince Bernhard. I've seen photos of Prince Bernhard with the badge on his uniform. I don't know if the similarity between the emblem and the royal flag is a coincidence or not.
Mark Sensen, 5 Oct 2003