Flag, coat of arms
The municipality of Opsterland has its own flag and coat of arms in addition to the municipal house style. Each with a meaning formed in a particular way from Opsterland interests.
Flag
The City Council decided to establish a municipal flag on April 10, 1963. The immediate reason was the visit of an Israeli sports delegation from Ra'anana. The flag was designed by the Fryske Rie Foar Heraldyk. The design of the flag closely matches the municipal coat of arms. For example, the red plane symbolizes the hare from the municipal coat of arms. The green area represents the five trees in the municipal coat of arms. The two white areas symbolize the silver shield color. A block-shaped plane was chosen to show the connection with the Zevenwouden, to which Opsterland belongs. In fact, the flag of the Zevenwouden consists of fifteen blocks of white and green divided into three horizontal strips. In addition to the municipal flag, almost every village has a village flag. Each village's Local Interest Association can tell you more about this.
Arm
The Opsterland municipal coat of arms was not created all at once. Only in 1818 was the coat of arms as we know it today established. Before that there were major differences in the coat of arms. For example, there is a Map of 1622 showing a seal with five trees on it for the first time. All other symbols in the coat of arms were alternately used or not used over time. In the first coats of arms, for example, only a hare was visible. It wasn't until 1739 that the dog we know today appeared in the coat of arms. Also, over the years the position of the hare changed: one time the hare ran to the left, the next time to the right. After 1818, the coat of arms did not change. The municipal coat of arms returns, in modernized form, in the municipal house style.
The official description of the coat of arms reads, 'being of silver, laden with five poplar trees, standing on a green ground, over which runs a hare of throat (red), followed by a dog of the same color, the front part of which is only visible. The shield covered with a golden Crown'. The official colors of the coat of arms are:
- Throat = red
- Sinopel = green
- Purple = purple
- Gold = yellow
- Silver = white
- Black = black
