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Herselt (Municipality, Province of Antwerp, Belgium)

Municipal flag of Herselt - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 17 January 2006

Presentation of Herselt
Municipal flag of Herselt

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Presentation of Herselt

The municipality of Herselt is the south-easternmost municipality in the province of Antwerp. It is located 30 km south-east of Antwerp and 20 km north-west of Leuven, and borders (Flemish) Brabant.

The region of Herselt was converted to Christianity in the Frankish times, around 700; one century later, Herselt had its own parish church.In the XIIth century, the region was granted to the lords of Wesemaal, who ceded it to the family of Merode in the XVth century. In the XVIth century, the area was scoured by the Dutch, the Spaniards, the French, the Lorrains, the Rhenans and the Austrians, as well as by the black plague.
At the end of the XVIIIth century, Herselt was a center of the revolt against the French rule. The tocsin was sounded in 1798, announcing that the French had been expelled from the castle of Westerlo. Volunteers from Herselt also joined the 1830 independence war.
A post office was opened in Herselt in 1881 and the tramway Mechelen-Westerlo was extended to Aarschot via Herselt in 1911. During the First World War, 32 houses of the city were burnt by the Germans, 29 inhabitants held hostages, tortured and murdered, and another 16 was killed in action. Between the two World Wars, several young people abandoned their farms and worked in factories, mines or offices.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 17 January 2006

Municipal flag of Herselt

The municipal flag of Herselt is vertically divided yellow-red-yellow-red-yellow-red-yellow-red-yellow (nine stripes) with en engrailed blue border and a blue letter H in the middle.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag and arms were adopted by the Municipal Council on 14 November 1984, confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on 3 December 1984 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 8 July 1986.
The flag is a banner of the municipal arms, which are the arms of the family of Merode-Westerlo with the H (for Herselt) added for distinction from the municipal arms (and flag) of Westerlo. The greater arms of Herselt, as shown on the municipal website, are placed in front of a big tree supporting the two red ribbons that flank the shield.

Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 17 January 2006

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