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Leuven (Municipality, Province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium)

Louvain

by Filip van Laenen

Description of the flag

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Description of the flag

Leuven (86,000 inhabitants) is the capital city of the province of Flemish Brabant.

The flag is horizontally divided red-white-red. Proportions are 2:3.

Source: Flags of the Low Countries

The flag is a banner of the municipal arms, which are:

Gules a fess argent

The oldest known seals of the city (beginning of the XIIIth century until the middle of the XIVth century) depicts the Romanic, later on Gothic front of the Saint-Peter's church. In 1358, something new appeared on the seals: in the entrance of the church, a small shield with a fess was added. From the XVth century on, this shield was placed in front of Saint Peter, the patron saint of the city. So, from the XIVth century on, the city of Leuven had arms with a fess, and younger sources show that it is a fess argent on a red field.
According to a popular story, the colours recall the large defeat of the Normans near Leuven in 891 against Arnulf of Kärnthen. On that day, so much blood flowed into the river Dijle, that only in the middle there was a small stripe of clear water: a fess argent between the red blood.

The flag was adopted on 2 April 1979.

Jarig Bakker, 30 October 2001