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Zulte (Municipality, Province of East Flanders, Belgium)

Municipal flag of Zulte - Image by Filip van Laenen, 24 October 2001

Presentation of Zulte and its villages
Municipl flag of Zulte

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Presentation of Zulte and its villages

The municipality of Zulte (14,629 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 3,252 ha) is located on the river Leie, 5 km north of Waregem, a town in West Flanders with which Zulte share the SV Zulte-Waregem football club. The municipality of Zulte is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Zulte (6,873 inh.; 1,004 ha), Machelen (4,113 inh.; 1,286 ha) and Olsene (3,581 inh.; 962 ha).

Zulte was mentioned for the first time as Sulta, a Germanic word meaning "a miry area". The domain of Zulte, ran by several families on behalf of the Count of Flanders, formed from the mid-XIIIth to the mid-XVIth century a single domain with the village of Heestert (incorporated into Zwevegem in 1976).

Olsene was mentioned for the first time as Henglinium, another (latinized) Germanic word meaning "a hill" (see the Dutch words helling and heuvel). Olsene was a free domain; the Piers de Raveschoot family, lords of Olsene in the XVIth century, played a significant part in the local political life.

Machelen, often called Machelen-an-der-Leie to distinguish it from the town of Machelen, located near Brussels, was mentioned for the first time as Magalium, yet another (latinized) Germanic word meaning "a powerful village". The domain of Machelen, ran by several families on behalf of the Count of Flanders, once formed a single domain with the village of Ayshove (Kruishoutem). Arnould I and Arnould II of Oudenaarde were nominal lords of Machelen around 1000, while their successors took the formal name of lords of Machelen in the XIth-XIIth centuries. Owned by the Jauche de Mastaing family in the XVIth century, the domain was split into Machelen and Ayshove in 1523. The van der Meere family was the last owner of Machelen.
Machelen is the place of the Roger Raveel Museum, born in the village in 1921. Raveel studied in Ghent under the guidance of Hubert Malfait and Jos Verdeghem and was introduced in the early 1950s by his friend Hugo Claus to the painters Karel Appel and Corneille, members of the CoBrA movement. Raveel worked in 1962 in Albisola Mare (Italy) with Lucio Fontana and Asger Jorn. His style evolved to a kind of abstraction based on organic, vegetal and animal life. In 1966-1967, he revamped the cellars of the castle of Beervelde, near Ghent, together with Etienne Elias, Raoul De Keyser and Reinier Lucassen. He then created several "painted objects" such as Illusiegroep (The illusion group) and Tuintje met karretje om the hemel te vervoeren (The small garden with the cart to transport the sky). His concern for environmental issues was expressed in installations such as De Zwanen van Bruggen (The swans of Bruges) and Raveel op de Leie (Raveel on the Leie). In 1990, Raveel commemorated the outbreak of the Second World War by pushing a painting mounted on wheels through the town of Brussels.
The symbol of Toerisme Leiestreek (Leie Region Tourist Service, founded 2000) is based on a painting by Roger Raveel, showing the red-and-white inland navigation flag called blokvlag. Raveel, howeve,r added a black lining to the white square.

Ivan Sache & Jan Mertens, 6 January 2008

Municipal flag of Zulte

The municipal flag of Zulte is quartered green-yellow.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 21 February 1985, confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on 7 May 1985 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 8 July 1986.
The colours of the flag are the main colours of the municipal arms, while the design of the flag recall the quartered, former arms of Zulte.

The municipal arms of Zulte are shown and described on the municipal website, as In sinopel (groen) drie aanziende hertenkoppen van goud. In azuur (blauw) drie omgekeerde moerbeibladeren in goud. Het schild getopt met een zwaan van zilver ("Vert an escutcheon blue charged with three mulberry leaves or surrounded by three deer's heads of the same. The shield surmonted by a swan argent").
The deer's heads come from the first quarter of the former arms of Zulte, granted by Royal Decree on 13 October 1819, after the arms of the Limnander family, last lords of the village (1715-1793).
The mulberry leaves come from the former arms of Machelen, once bore by the Van de Meere family, last owners of the village.
The swan comes from the former arms of Olsene, once bore by the Lanchais family, owner of the village in the XVIth century.

Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 6 January 2008