What Happened to the Inter-Frisian Flag?

The Frisians are a Germanic ethnic group living in the coastal regions of North-western Europe in the Netherlands and Germany. Most often, the flag associated with the Frisians contain what appear to be red hearts, but which are actually waterlillies. These can be found on both the flags of Fryslân
and the Inter-Frisian Flag. In this video I'll explore the meaning behind the Frisian flags.

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[TheJH]

I think the best way they could've slightly altered the initial proposal, was to change the upper left and lower right blue lines in the cross to black, and leave the blue lines in the lower left and upper right blue. This way you have a diagonally 'symmetrical' design that represents East-Frisia while keeping the rest of the flag the same.

[schildmeneerpadman]

I think option 1 is the best. I think it looks very good. And also fits in with the rest of the European flags

[bapo]

The first flag submitted by the groep fan Auwerk is definitely my favorite, I even have a physical copy of it myself!

[LoekVIII]

Anyway As a WestFrisian I feel kinda forgotten, We killed the dutch king/duke once you know

[Jekubman]

I think the first one is the best looking design for a flag. It is also fairly simple compared to the other ones, and the best flags are never very complicated desugns.

[draphotube]

Great content, als een Nederlander ben ik zo enorm blij dat ik tegenwoordig zoveel over de Friezen kan leren, ach man als we nooit waren overgenomen door dat Frankische Rijk dan hadden we z'n oud land kunnen wezen. Echt zo van 900AD ofzo? echt geweldig.

[Kallikukurinn]

Honestly the first one looks the best. It is the most aesthetically pleasing and it just makes the most sense~

[robbey]

For me it's definitely the 1st design, both in design and symbolism as well as me being both a part of the Danish and the Frisian minority in Germany, or rather Schleswig-Holstein. The combination of the Scandinavian cross and the Frisian colours/symbols is the perfect flag for me.

[eckligt]

1, the Scandinavian cross, without a doubt, for aesthetic reasons.

[rolebo]

The first proposal for an inter-Frisian flag is still the best one, but to appease the council and east-Frisians add in black the Upstalsboom.

[TheSuperMagnesium]

I prefer the fourth flag, the one with the questionmark. I think it represents the current situation very well.

[ottertim]

Moin! East Frisian here. I gotta say the designs that our section of the interfrisian counsel send in looked awful :D

In regards to the 4 options for flags:
1. I gotta say that the first one does look the best. However the criticism from my section is valid. Black is the most important colour on our flag, since it stands for the Cirksena family, who ruled as counts of East Frisia for hundreds of years. Red and blue on the contrary stand for chieftains who got defeated by the Cirksena (Blue for the Ukenas and Red for the Tom Broks). So the first one kind of sidelines us.

2. This flag is both the most inclusive and the worst. Although it includes all three modern "Frisias", it is to stylised to inspire any form of allegiance. (A modern looking design does not work for a people who have a 2000 year old history.) Also it looks more like a company logo, than a flag that tries to represent an ethnic group.

3. Although this flag does look nice it fails in one crucial aspect. it is entirely West Frisian centric. Those lions are neither a East- nor North Frisian symbol and would thus only represent West Frisia adequately. (I do know that lions have symbolism in Schleswig, so please feel free to correct me if the north frisians do have some sort of connection to those lions.)

4. Since im a big fan of heraldry I'd say that a new Frisian flag needs to also feature heraldry from all Frisians. So I'd say take the most prominent features of the 3 frisian coat of arms and put them somehow together on a new flag. Perhaps with a shield that is split into 3 parts, with a lion for West Frisia, a "virgin-eagle" (that is the direct translation for it) for East Frisia and a cut in half double headed imperial eagle for North Frisia (sounds weird but that is my best description for it).

I would probably choose either number 1 or 4 (if a good alternative for number 1 can be designed).

With that I hope I gave some good insights to the view points of East Frisia on those Flags.


PS: EALA FRYA FRESENA

[Americansaxon]

I like the first flag. I think that perhaps there could be a bit of black added to it to make the East Frisians happier with it

[CompactDisc]

I'd go for the Scandinavian cross (number 1) but with a black inner lining in the cross to represent East-Frisia.

[petertrudelljr]

I think the best option would be to take #1 and add a black cross within the white cross, bisecting the lines. That would answer the problem of not having black, while keeping the aesthetic nordic design.

[geronimo]

"Let's put a heart-shaped object on our flag, which is actually not a heart at all. Let's also paint it red, although it's not actually red. There certainly won't be any confusion."

[MarySmilodon]

My great grandfather was Frisian. This was super interesting.

[markaxworthy]

Modify (1) to change the two right-angled blue lines on the right to green and black to include the two missing colours from regional flags.

[randomhistoryfan]

Love the Frisians despite our friendly rivalry

[theicepickthatkilledtrotsk]

The Friesland flag is one of my favorite flags.