Every 11 July, Flanders celebrates the Battle of the Golden Spurs – a symbol of Flemish independence – with events, activities … and more than a few speeches
Culture
It's Flemish Community Day: Activities and politics abound on regional holiday
Lisa Bradshaw
Published:
Flemish civil servants and most banking personnel in Flanders have the day off today in celebration of Flemish Community Day. The annual regional holiday on 11 July honours the day in 1302 in which a ragtag group of farmers and merchants utterly decimated the French army – including a sizeable cavalry – sent to the Kortrijk area to quell an uprising.
The Battle of the Golden Spurs, as it’s now referred to, has gone down in history as a symbol of Flemish independence. While the holiday has a more special meaning to supporters of nationalist parties like Vlaams Belang and N-VA, it is also recognised as a day of historical significance in cities and towns across the region.
Vlaanderen Feest
Under the regional title Vlaanderen Feest (Flanders Parties), some 1,000 activities and events are taking place across Flanders. Antwerp hosts the annual music festival in the Grote Markt this evening, while Ghent does the same in and around Sint-Jacobs Church, throwing poetry into the mix. Both events feature performances in Dutch – a must for Flemish Community Day activities.
Brussel Danst is the capital’s annual party, with a huge number of activities happening through the day and night. Muntplein is the at the centre of it all, with a block party, roller skate jam and family theatre.
Flemish Community Day is also naturally political, with politicians, community leaders and the public attending rallies and speeches. Flemish minister-president Matthias Diependaele (N-VA) delivered the traditional annual address at the official Golden Spurs ceremony in Kortrijk yesterday evening.
“Federal policy must serve Flanders well,” said Diependaele. “We want to enter talks with our federal and Walloon partners to discuss better solidifying our rights in the state structure and transferring more powers to Flanders.”
N-VA has always stated that its ultimate goal was for Flanders to declare independence from Belgium and become its own state – though those ambitions have somewhat taken a back seat in recent years in favour of more federalism. Last year’s elections were the first that delivered a nationalist party prime minister – former N-VA party chair Bart De Wever.
“No Brussels government without Dutch-speaking majority”
Diependaele also asserted that a majority of the Dutch-language MPs in Brussels must agree with any regional coalition accord; the Brussels regional government is still struggling to form more than a year after the elections of 2024.
While the law requires that at least one Dutch-speaking party be part of the ruling coalition, it does not require that a majority of the 17 Dutch-speaking MPs support the coalition accord. Still, it is a tradition during coalition talks that this be the case.
To break the ongoing deadlock in coalition talks, French-language parties PS and Défi have suggested forming a majority coalition without the agreement of a majority of Dutch-speaking MPs – an explosive proposal to Flanders.