The Flag of the Netherlands Antilles

Netherlands Antilles

The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...

was white, with a horizontal blue stripe in the center, one-third of the flag's hoist, superimposed on a vertical red stripe of the same width, also centered; six white, five-pointed stars are arranged in a pentagon pattern in the center of the blue band, their points up. It was adopted on 19 November 1959.

The six stars represented the six main islands of Aruba

Aruba

Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...

, Bonaire, Curaçao

Curaçao

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten.

1986 modification

In 1986, Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles resulting in the flag being modified to depict only five stars to represent the remaining five islands.

Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles

On 10 October 2010, the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved into Curaçao

Curaçao

Curaçao is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao , which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao , is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands...

, Sint Maarten and the three public bodies of the Caribbean Netherlands.

See also

• Flag of the Netherlands
  Flag of the Netherlands
  The flag of the Netherlands is a horizontal tricolour of red, white, and blue. Since 1937, the flag has officially been the national flag of the Netherlands and of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.-Description:...
  
  
  • Flag of Aruba
    Flag of Aruba
    Aruba's national flag was adopted on March 18, 1976. The design consists of a field of light blue , two narrow parallel horizontal yellow stripes in the bottom half, and a four-pointed white-fimbriated red star in the canton.The design elements have multiple symbolic meanings:* The blue field...
    
    
  • Flag of Bonaire
    Flag of Bonaire
    The flag of Bonaire has a large blue triangle in the lower right corner and a smaller yellow triangle in the upper left corner. It was adopted on 11 December 1981....
    
    
  • Flag of Curaçao
    Flag of Curaçao
    thumb|right|250px|Curaçao FlagThe flag of Curaçao represents the Country of Curaçao as well as the island area within the Netherlands Antilles from 1984 until its dissolution. The flag was not flown for Curaçao and Dependencies for which the flag of the Netherlands was used...
    
    
  • Flag of Saba
    Flag of Saba
    The flag of Saba was adopted on December 6, 1985 . 130 different designs were presented to the Commission. The chosen flag was designed by an 18-year old Saban named Daniel Johnson....
    
    
  • Flag of Sint Eustatius
    Flag of Sint Eustatius
    The flag of Sint Eustatius was adopted on 16 November 2004 .-Description:The flag is rectangular with the colors blue, red, white, gold and green, and divided in four five-sided blue squares, each fimbriated red. In its center is a diamond-form white field; in the diamond is the silhouette of the...
    
    
  • Flag of Sint Maarten
    Flag of Sint Maarten
    The flag of Sint Maarten is the national flag of the Dutch part of Saint Martin island, which is a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was adopted 13 June 1985....