Ledegem (Municipality, Province of West Flanders, Belgium)

Last modified: 2008-01-19 by ivan sache
Keywords: ledegem | axe (yellow) | chevron (red) | birds: 3 (black) | martlets: 3 (black) | sods: 3 (green) | cross: saltire (yellow) |
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Flag of Ledegem - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 6 May 2006

• Presentation of Ledegem and its villages
• Municipal flag of Ledegem

See also:

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

Presentation of Ledegem and its villages

The municipality of Ledegem (9,379 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 2476 ha) is located 10 km west of Kortrijk, 10 km south of Roeselare and 5 km north of Menen and the border with France. The municipality of Ledegem is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Ledegem (4,018 inh.; 1,116 ha), Rollegem-Kapelle (1,471 inh.; 483 ha) and Sint-Eloois-Winkel (3,754 inh.; 876 ha).

Ledegem was mentioned for the first time in 1111 as Lidingim, meaning "Litol's estate". In the Middle Ages, the domain of Ledegem was divided into several smaller domains such as Ter Hulst, Van Emstrode and Oosthove; these toponyms still exist in Ledegem. Until the XXth century, Ledegem remained a rural village, growing grains, especially oats, tobacco and flax. Clothmaking existed in Ledegem until the late XXth century.

Rollegem-Kapelle originates from a piece of land given in 1213 by Hendrik van Moorslede to Willem van Rollegem where a chapel, a cemetary and a house for the chaplain was built. The hexagonal chapel was located in the middle of the woods. The chapel was increased in 1630 and was added a turret; it was rebuilt in 1760 and suppressed in 1909 in order to build today's church.

Sint-Eloois-Winkel was in the past a rural hamlet located in the north of the parish of Gullegem. A chapel dedicated to St. Eloi already existed in 1382 and was known as the Winckel-Capelle. In 1741, Jean-Baptiste Mulle de Terschueren, owner of the domain of Sint-Eloois, obtained from the Bishop of Tournai the secession of the hamlet of Winckel-Capelle (then with 1,286 inhabitants) from Gullegem. The Mulle de Terschueren family funded the building of the church of the newly made parish. However, the civil ruler of the parish remained the lord of Gullegem until the French Revolution. A Decree of the 24 Prairial of the Year III (12 June 1795) made of Winkel-Cappelle a municipality.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 6 May 2006

Municipal flag of Ledegem

The municipal flag of Ledegem is quartered:
1. A yellow axe on a black field;
2. A red chevron on a white field and a black martlet in each "quarter";
3. Three green turf sods on a white field;
4. A yellow saltire on a red field.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag and arms were adopted by the Municipal Council on 3 December 1981, confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on 5 March 1985 and published in the Belgian gazette on 8 July 1986.
The flag is a banner of the municipal arms.

Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 6 May 2006