Last modified: 2007-12-02 by ivan sache
Keywords: flobecq | vloesberg | castle (blue) |
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![[Flag of Flobecq]](../images/b/be-whtfq.gif)
Municipal flag of Flobecq - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 16 July 2007
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The municipality of Flobecq (in Dutch, Vloesberg; 3,270 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 2,300 ha) is the northernmost municipality of Hainaut, located on the border with East Flanders. When the linguistic border between French and Dutch was set up, the Dutch-speaking hamlet of La Houppe (in Dutch, D'Hoppe) was not included into Flanders but kept in Hainaut, which explains why Flobecq is a French-speaking municipality with "facilities" for Dutch speakers. This status prevented Flobecq to be merged with some neighhbouring municipalities.
Flobecq is known for its snail farm and its giant walking on stilts, the only one of that kind in Belgium. In La Houppe, the hut known as cabane Sylvie was a popular place of hike to visit the hermit who lived there until 1928. In the early XXth century, Flobecq was famous for its family breweries such as Jouret, Loix and Voisin, the latter having been active until 1980.
Ivan Sache, 3 July 2007
The municipal flag of Flobecq is white with the municipal seal, in
blue, in the middle.
According to Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et germanophones, the flag was adopted by the Municipal
Council on 18 September 1995 and confirmed by the Executive of the
French Community on 29 May 1996. The seal shows a medieval castle.
The castle of Flobecq was suppressed in 1480; recent excavations have yielded a polygonal fort protected by angle towers. The municipal website shows the castle as it is probably represented on the seal, that is a building with a big open gate, two narrow windows and three towers having each three crenels.
Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 3 July 2007