The “World Heraldry 3D” project
is moving forward, steadily and alphabetically, and this time it’s Belgium’s
turn. Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western
Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters,
and those of several other major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium
covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a
population of about 11 million people. Straddling the cultural boundary between
Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups, the
Dutch-speakers, mostly Flemish (about 60%), and the French-speakers, mostly
Walloons (about 40%), plus a small group of German-speakers. Belgium's two
largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the
French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region,
officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish
Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Historically,
Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, which
used to cover a somewhat larger area than the current Benelux group of states.
The region was called Belgica in Latin because of the Roman province Gallia
Belgica which covered more or less the same area. From the end of the Middle
Ages until the 17th century, it was a prosperous centre of commerce and
culture. From the 16th century until the Belgian Revolution in 1830, when
Belgium seceded from the Netherlands, many battles between European powers were
fought in the area of Belgium, causing it to be dubbed the battleground of
Europe, a reputation strengthened by both World Wars.
The territory of Belgium is
divided into three Regions, two of which, Flanders and Wallonia, are in turn
subdivided into provinces; the third Region, Brussels, being neither a province
nor a part of a province. The Belgian Armed Forces are organized into one
unified structure which consists of four main components: Land Component, or
the Army; Air Component, or the Air Force; Naval Component, or the Navy;
Medical Component. The operational commands of the four components are
subordinate to the Staff Department for Operations and Training of the Ministry
of Defence, which is headed by the Assistant Chief of Staff Operations and
Training, and to the Chief of Defence.
The coat of arms of the Kingdom
of Belgium bears a lion, called the Belgian Lion, or Leo Belgicus. The greater
arms are used only rarely. They adorn the great seal that is affixed to laws
and international treaties. The lesser coat of arms (as used by the Belgian
federal government, on passport covers and the official sites of the monarchy
and of the government) consists of the shield, the royal crown, the crossed
sceptres, the collar of the Order of Leopold and the motto. he newly
independent Kingdom of Belgium decided to base its coat of arms and flag on the
symbols used by the short-lived United Netherlandish States. These came into
being after the Southern Netherlands threw off Austrian rule. It existed as an
independent polity from January to December 1790. The Duchy of Brabant had
taken the lead in the so called Brabantine Revolution, the insurrection against
Emperor Joseph II, and afterwards dominated the United Netherlandish States.
Therefore the Brabantine lion (sable, a lion rampant or, armed and langued
gules) came to stand for the entire federation.
As always, the “Belgium 3D”designs are available on a limited number of selected hi quality products via
my “World Heraldry” galleries at Zazzle. You may simply follow the direct links
in the article to navigate to the corresponding galleries. I will also make my
designs available free of charge for non-commercial use to any government and
military officials of the corresponding countries, as well as for
non-commercial and personal use, such as school projects, presentations, forum
avatars to businesses and individuals.
The above information provided
in part by Wikipedia, The Heraldry Society, Global Security, and official
websites of the above-mentioned countries.
