Evergem (Municipality, Province of East Flanders, Belgium)

Last modified: 2019-07-30 by ivan sache
Keywords: evergem | boar (black) |
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Municipal flag of Evergem - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 26 March 2006

• Presentation of Evergem
• Municipal flag of Evergem

See also:

• Belgium
• Province of East Flanders: Municipal flags
• Belgium: Municipal flags

Presentation of Evergem

The municipality of Evergem (32,373 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 7,504 ha) is located 7 km north-west of Ghent, in the south-easternmost part of the region known as Meetjesland, spreading between Ghent and Bruges. The municipality of Evergem is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Evergem, Belzele, Doornzele, Ertvelde (including Kluizen since 1965), Kerkbrugge-Langerbrugge, Rieme, Sleidinge and Wippelgem.

A document dated 996 mentions the place called Evergehem, that is "Ever's estate". Ever was a Frankish warlord, who settled near the river Kale-Durme, a tributary of the Scheldt. The region was known in the Middle Ages as the County of Evergem; it was made of the today's municipalities or former municipalities of Evergem, Wondelgem and a significant part of Sleidinge. Ertvelde and Kluizen were part of the Lordship of Assenede.
Evergem is on the western edge of the industrial axis Ghent-Zelzate, formed by the Ghent-Terneuzen see canal. The canal was built in 1547 by Emperor Charles V as the Sassevaart and was expected to link Ghent with the see. In 1825, the canal was increased by King William I to Terneuzen (today in the Netherlands). It is today a huge waterway - 32 km in length, 200 m in width - for ships up to 125,000 tons. The opening of a power plant in Langerbrugge in 1911 allowed the industrialization of the left (western) bank of the canal and the onset of industry in Evergem.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 26 March 2006

Municipal flag of Evergem

The municipal flag of Evergem is yellow with a black white-tusked boar.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 21 October 1980, confirmed by Royal Decree on 7 August 1981 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 12 September 1981.
The flag is a banner of the first quarter of the municipal arms, this quarter being the arms of the former municipality of Evergem. These are canting arms since a boar is called ever (or everzwijn) in Dutch.

Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat, Jan Mertens & Ivan Sache, 26 March 2006