Oss (The Netherlands)

Noord-Brabant province

Last modified: 2005-05-13 by jarig bakker
Keywords: oss | ox |
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Shipmate Flagchart : http://www.shipmate.nl/flags.htm
adopted 2 Jan 2003; own design of the municipality

• Oss new flag
• Oss municipality
• Oss CoA
• Oss (former municipality)
• Oss old CoA
• Berghem
• Berghem CoA
• Megen, Haren en Macharen
• Megen, Haren en Macharen CoA

• Herpen
• Ravenstein

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Oss new flag

The merger of the former municipalities of Oss and Ravenstein resulted into the new municipality of Oss on 1 Jan 2003.
This municipality now consists of 9 former municipalities:
1. Oss, formed in 1994 by the merger of Berghem, Megen c.a., and Oss.
Originally Oss consisted of the former "Freedom". Until 1795 this was in the Meierij van 's-Hertogenbosch, quarter of Maassland.
2. Berghem, formed from the territory of the former Statendorp, in the same quarter of the Meierij.
3-5. Megen, formed in 1820 from the former municipalities of Megen, Haren and Macharen, which formed together the county of Megen until 1795.
6-9. Ravenstein, formed in 1941 by the inclusion of its territory of the former municipality of Herpen. Earlier, in 1923, the three former municipalities of Deursen en Dennenburg, Dieden, and Demen en Langel, as well as Huisseling en Neerloon joined Ravenstein. The town of Ravenstein and the villages of Demen, Dennenburg, Deursen, Huisseling and Langel belonged till 1795 to the Land of Ravenstein. Dieden was until then a village of Gelre, and Neerloon belonged to the Land of Cuijck.

The aldermen of the Freedom of Oss used a seal with an ox under some branches; later the branches were stylized to a tree. The historical arms of os was green with a silver ox. The municipality used from 1817 till 1994 the ox under a tree on a green base, in the national colors of gold on blue. The flag, which was adopted in 1955, used these colors.

On 23 Nov 1994 a new coat of arms was granted to Oss: here was a silver ox on a geen field. A silver chief referred to Megen, and the mitre in that chied to Berghem. An antique count's crown reminded of the former county of Megen.

A new flag was adopted 2 Jan 1994 by municipal decision: quartered over 1/3 of flaglength of green, yellow, blue, and white, with on green in white the contours of a facing "emptied" ox's head.

Source: Willem van Ham: "Een leeg vak en vier lange banen in Oss", in: Vexilla Nostra 244, 2005.
Jarig Bakker, 9 May 2005