Orange Kisses in Amsterdam – City Symbols
If you’re in Amsterdam during a major sporting event or on Queen’s Day, you’ll see a sea of orange everywhere. Buildings, street lamps, people and even dogs are all clad in orange. And when not decked-out in this bright, happy-making colour, Amsterdam sports another symbol - three XXX’s. So what’s behind these symbols?
House of Orange
As you probably know, the colours of the Dutch flag are red, white and blue so it might seem unusual that the Dutch flaunt their national pride with the colour orange. The reason for this is that the Dutch Royal Family stems from the House of Oranje-Nassau. The lineage of the current ruling family dates back to Willem van Oranje (William of Orange). Although the orange colour has royal roots, it symbolizes a much broader pride in being Dutch.
Orange Wear
Orange (Oranje) is a great colour for celebrating and uniting the nation! On Queen’s Day and royal birthdays, the Dutch tricolor flag is flown with an orange pennant above it. Also on Queen’s Day you’ll hear people sing “Oranje boven, oranje boven. Leve the Koningin!” (Orange on top, Orange on top. Long Live the Queen!)During occupation in WWII, Dutch housewives often made a small show of resistance by hanging the washing out in a particular pattern: something orange, something red, something white and something blue! Oranje is also the nickname of the Dutch national football team.
Amsterdam XXX’s
Amsterdam’s coat of armsseems rather friendly – with three crosses in a row it resembles a line of kisses. The XXX symbol are actually St. Andrew’s Crosses. St. Andrew was a fisherman who was apparently crucified on an X-shaped cross in the 1st Century AD. The Amsterdam coat of arms consists of three St. Andrew’s Crosses horizontally in white on a black stripe on a red background. The city’s symbol dates back to 1505 when the city was a fisherman’s town and all ships registered in Amsterdam flew this flag.
XXX and the city
Its rather a coincidence that Amsterdam’s 500 year old symbol is also shorthand for x-rated entertainment. Of course this coincidence is widely promoted by the producers of gimmicky souvenirs. Amsterdam’s XXX symbol can be seen all over the city – on flags, buildings, manhole covers and even on “silent policeman” that stop cars from driving on the pavement. Have fun looking for the symbol all over the city. Of course another symbol widely associated with Amsterdam, are the iamsterdam letters – there are two sets, one that lives on Museumplein and one set that tours around town.
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