Luxembourg · 50 years of legal protection of the Luxembourg flag

The Luxembourgish flag consists of three equally wide horizontal stripes in red, white and light blue. Its colours derive from the historic coat of arms of Luxembourg. This depicts a red, crowned lion on a field striped silver and blue. Red, white and blue became established as the national colours in the 19th century, particularly during the Belgian Revolution of 1830, which also spread to Luxembourg.

The tricolour resembles the Dutch flag, but differs from it mainly in its lighter shade of blue. The similarity is not due to direct adoption: Luxembourg’s colours have their own heraldic origin. However, from 1815 to 1890, the Grand Duchy was linked in personal union with the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During this period, the Dutch king was also Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

For a long time, the use of the Luxembourgish national colours was based primarily on custom and historical practice. It was only the Law of 23 June 1972 on the national emblems that legally defined the state symbols and their design. This gave, among other things, the arrangement and colours of the flag a binding legal basis. The coin’s theme therefore refers not to the creation of the tricolour, but to its legal regulation. The year 2022 presented itself as the year of issue because of the round anniversary of this law.

Grand Duke Henri has been the head of state of Luxembourg since 2000. He succeeded his father, Grand Duke Jean, following the latter’s abdication. Luxembourg is a parliamentary monarchy; political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament, while the Grand Duke embodies the continuity of the state and performs constitutional duties. His portrait has regularly appeared on the national sides of Luxembourg’s coins since the introduction of the euro. The association of the head of state with a legally defined national emblem therefore corresponds to the customary depiction of state identity on Luxembourgish coins.