Last modified: 2008-05-10 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of Keerbergen]](../images/b/be-vbrke.gif)
Municipal flag of Keergergen - Image by Jarig Bakker, 13 January 2008
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The municipality of Keerbergen (12,580 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 1,839 ha) is located in the middle of the triangle formed by the towns of Antwerpen, Leuven and Aarschot.
Keerbergen was mentioned for the first time in 1036, as Chierberghe, on a donation made by the lord of Incourt to the Bishop of Liège. At that time, as shown on Van der Essen's "Historical Atlas of Belgium'", Keerbergen was an enclave of the Principality of Liège within the County of Leuven. The town was subsequantly transferred to the Berthout, lords of Grimbergen and Mechelen. They were succeeded by the Cortenbach and several other families; in the beginning of the XVIIIth century, the domain of Keerbergen and the associated rights were purchased by Dame Anne Marie d'Oyenbrugghe Duras, Countess of Berlo. The abbey of Grimbergen also influenced significantly the development of Keerbergen, owning since the XIIIth century the rights on the parish church and two farms.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 13 January 2008
The municipal flag of Keerbergen is white with three red vertical
stripes, therefore virtually identical to the flag of Zomergem.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 12 and 13 June 1989, confirmed by the Executive of Flanders
on 21 November 1989 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 8
December 1990.
The flag is a banner of the municipal arms.
The municipal website explains that the oldest known municipal seal of
Keerbergen, dated 1308, shows a shield with three pales and the writing
scabinorum de Kerberghe (Magistrates of Keerbergen). The shield
represents the arms of the Berthout of Berlaer (while the today's
municipality of Berlaar uses historically erroneous arms and flag, blue
with three white pales). The seal was used until 1492; other seals,
from 1540, 1697 and 1786, kept in the Brussels State Archives, show the
same design.
The Municipal Council applied to the Nobility Council for the use of
the old Berthout / Keerbergen arms on 24 December 1954. The Provincial
Government of Brabant sent a positive answer on 10 September 1955, with
the following description of the arms:
Van zilver met drij palen van keel, het schild geplaatst voor een
Heilige Michael, met opgeheven zwaard van goud, die een duivel van
sabel neervelt (Dutch);
("Argent three pales gules, the shield hold by a Saint Michel with a
raised sword or and trampling a devil sable").
Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 13 January 2008
La Libre reports on 2 May 2007 the Belgian Interclubs Championships
in golf, which took place in Het Zoute. The Keerbergen Golf Club won
the men's title, defeating Waterloo, the title holder (4-3).
The article shows a colour photography of the winners, celebrating with
the club flag, which is red with the club's emblem in the middle.
The emblem of the Keerbergen Golf Club can be seen on the club website. It is made of a shield derived from the municipal arms ("Argent three pales gules"), with the central vertical stripe twice wider than the other ones, a white golf ball on a tee placed in the base of the shield, a red chief with GOLF CLUB in yellow letters, a red scroll below the shield with KEERBERGEN in yellow, and two yellow laurel branches flanking the shield.
Ivan Sache, 19 January 2008