Aalsmeer

Aalsmeer in Noordholland is rather famous because of its flower-auctions, from where tulips and hyacinths are sent all over the world in no time, because of the close vicinity of Schiphol Airport. It had (1 Jan 1999) 22.540 inhabitants on 21.88 ha., and consisted of Aalsmeer (seat), Kalslagen, Kudelstaart, Oosteinde, and Vrouwentroost. Ever since its foundation Aalsmeer had to struggle with the "waterwolf", mainly the big Haarlemmermeer; after that inland lake had been made into a "polder", Aalsmeer could develop into the thriving community it is now. This struggle is more or less symbolized in the municipal arms: a red lion on a blue field, holding an eal. The eal (Dutch: aal) makes the Coat of Arms canting, but the slippery nature of that fish symbolizes also the often apparent fruitless struggle against the water. The lion is of course the Holland lion. The Coat of Arms was granted 26 June 1816. The flag was adopted on 7 April 1976, and is described by Sierksma's Nederlands Vlaggenboek [sie62): "Three equally wide horizontal stripes of red, green, and black. This flag is not official, but is used widely. It is a rather old flag, as can be gathered from the explanation of the colors. These are related to the cultivation of raspberries, a very popular product in Aalsmeer in the 19th century, but now discontinued. Red symbolizes the raspberry itself, the green its leaves and plant, and black to roots and earth. There is no connection between flag and Coat of Arms.