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Hilaard (The Netherlands)

Littenseradiel municipality, Fryslân province

by Jarig Bakker, 8 Sep 2003
adopted 1999; Design: J.C. Terluin and R.J. Broersma.

Hilaard village
Hilaard CoA

See also:

Hilaard village

Hilaard (Dutch: Hilaard, Hijlaard, Frisian older name: Hilaerd), a village in Littenseradiel municipality, Fryslân. It used to be in the former municipality of Baarderadeel; population (1958): 364; (1974): 306. Church with saddle-roofed spire from the 14th century, with patron-saint: St. John. In Hilaard was Tsjessinga-state (fortified stately house), where the famous van Aylva-family lived. In 1742 the "state" was pulled down, except for the gate. That was 26 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 24 feet high...
In the hamlet Hoptille a customhouse ("tolhûs") with the CoA of Bolsward. There was a dairy-factory "Hoptille" 1899-1936, and a
flax-factory "Hoptille" 1936-47 - in 1947 the factory burned down. The "Doleantie" split the village in two (Doleantie = complaint-movement) is difficult to explain in English: the Reformed (Gereformeerde) (Protestant) Church split off from the Reformed (Hervormde) (Protestant) Church - this split not only affected this village, but most of Frisian families and communities <mine included - we were not allowed to visit certain relatives>
Nickname: "Prommeiters", "Prommen" - plumeaters, plums - the Hilaarder fair was held on 12 Aug, when the plums were ripe. It is said that the Hilaarders laugh only once a year, but everybody has forgotten the date...
(the citizens of the Belgian Vliermaal got the same nickname: "Pruimelaren"; that was not the only nickname of the Vliermalers, the other was "Mennekes" (little fellows); the Plums and the Little Fellows regularly fought it out with their brassbands (fanfarecorpsen), occasionally using their fists, sometimes in a less musical way their trumpets, tubas and heavy drums, to prove some point... Vliermaal is in Kortessem municipality, Tongeren arr., Limburg province, Belgium.)
Hilaard CoA: bellgable-formed divided a. in blue two fleurs-de-lis; b. in gold a facing black cowhead with a white blaze (kylblês); in chief red with a silver cross.
Flag: yellow with a red bellgable, standing on the hoist, connected to the flagtop and -bottom, of which the dividing line starts at 1/5
flaglength, and of which the top is at 3/5 flaglength; the bellgable lengthened with a blue stripe of 2/15 flaglength; the red charged with a yellow lily of 1/2 flagheight.
The bellgable refers to the churchtower of Hilaard. The cow's head refers to the main industry in the village: cattle-breeding and the former dairy-factory. The lilies are from the arms of the CoAs of the Van Aylva's and Mockema's who lived on Tsjessinga-state.The church is devoted to St. John the Baptist. His symbol is Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).
That sign, but with changed colors (red with a white