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Schoondijke (The Netherlands)

Sluis municipality, Zeeland province

image by Jarig Bakker, 11 Aug 2003
unofficial flag

Schoondijke former municipality
Schoondijke coat of arms

See also:

Schoondijke former municipality

Schoondijke is a former municipality in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen; in 1970 it merged with Oostburg; since 1 Jan 2003 part of Sluis municipality in Zeeland.
Schoondijke was nearly completely demolished during the WWII, was rebuilt and remained an agricultural area. In the Middle Ages it was part of the "Vrije van Sluis", (free land of Sluis), western Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, which was the "Oost-Vrije" the eastern part of the "Vrije van Brugge". In 1583 it was conquered by the Duke of Parma, but in 1604 it was reconquered by Prince Maurits and added to the Dutch Republic.
Many municipalities in western Zeeuws-Vlaanderen had a blue diagonal bar on a white field as a symbol for the "Vrije van Sluis", in which the diagonal bar may possibly represent the Schelde or the Zwin.
The flag of Schoondijke was: diagonally divided blue over white with in the center of the blue field the municipal arms.
This flag was not official, but was used as such. The colors are derived from the municipal arms.
Sources: Sierksma's Nederlands Vlaggenboek, 1962 [sie62], Ralf Hartemink's website - and a bit of ferreting.
Jarig Bakker, 11 Aug 2003

In "De gemeentewapens van Nederland", 1962, Sierksma counts four municipalities which have such arms related to "Het Vrije van Sluis": - Cadzand, Groede, Schoondijke, and Zuidzande.
Of these, the Cadzand uses the shield augmented with a K sabel in the sinister chief, Schoondijke uses the shield augmented with an S sabel in the sinister chief, and Zuidzande uses the shield augmented with a Z azure on each side of the bar. Groede uses the original Coat of Arms of "Het Vrije van Sluis".
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 1 Jan 1978

Schoondijke coat of arms

from Ralf Hartemink's website.

Granted 8 Dec 1819. Similar coats of arms were in use by the former municipalities of Cadzand, Groede and Zuidzande, which also belonged to the "Vrije van Sluis".

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