flag [noun] [de vlag, de vlaggen] [‘vlag‘]

Are you still wondering why flags were put out everywhere yesterday? Of course because of our Queen’s 70th birthday yesterday! As explained in DWOTDs "Koninginnedag" and "Verjaardag", the Queen’s (late) mother’s birthday is celebrated on Queen’s Day (instead of her own), and Queen Beatrix’ birthday is on January 31st.

You can tell that the event bears a relationship to the Royal House if the flag is accompanied by a small orange streamer attached to the top of the flagpole. On Queen’s Day and all royal birthdays and births, both the orange streamer ("wimpel") and the national red-white-blue flag are put out. On all other events (Remembrance Day, Liberation Day, etc.), only the national flag is put out.

When adolescents pass their high school exams, the national flag is put out accompanied by a couple of schoolbooks or a schoolbag, see 227. Slagen.

In villages near the coast and now predominantly in Scheveningen, ‘Vlaggetjesdag’ (Lit.: ‘little flags day’) is celebrated since the 1950s. First it was celebrated the day before the Dutch herring fleet went out to sea. Nowadays, people celebrate the arrival of ‘Nieuwe Haring’, Dutch herring. Check out www.vlaggetjesdag.com for the programme of this year’s ‘Vlaggetjesdag’ (which will take place on June 7).

All twelve provinces of the Netherlands have their own flags, as do capitals of the provinces and many municipalities.

Examples:
– "De Nederlandse vlag is rood-wit-blauw."
("The Dutch flag is red-white-blue.")

– "De 7-jarige Ajax-supporter zwaaide met zijn vlag tijdens de wedstrijd".
("The 7-year old Ajax supporter waved his flag during the match").

Expressions:
– "Met vlag en wimpel": with flying colours. Literally: "with flag and streamer".
– "Is ze nog steeds boos op je? – Ik weet het niet, ik zal eens kijken hoe de vlag erbij hangt."
("Is she still mad at you? -I don’t know, I will see which way the wind blows" Lit.: "…how the flags hangs.").

Related words:
– "Vlaggen": to wave, raise, put/hang out the flag.

Example:
– "De scheidrechter vlagde voor buitenspel."
("The referee raised the flag for offside").

– "Vlaggenstok": flagpole, flagstaff.
– "Zwaaien": to wave, to swing/sway.

This DWOTD was provided by guest author Laura.

The Dutch translation of “birthday” and “anniversary” is mostly the same: “verjaardag”. Sometimes “jubileum” is used as a translation for “anniversary”, see the examples in 1. and 2.

The Dutch have developed the strange habit of also congratulating family members and friends of the birthday boy/girl. We don’t know why 🙂 So do not be surprised if this happens to you. However, it seems this is changing a bit as an increasing number of people realize it is in fact strange and stop doing it.

The day on which you were born is “geboortedag”, but usually you will see “geboortedatum” (“date of birth”) when filling out forms etc.

1. birthday [noun] [de verjaardag, de verjaardagen] [‘ver-jaar-dag’]

Examples:
– “Vandaag viert koningin Beatrix haar zeventigste verjaardag.”
(“Today, Queen Beatrix celebrates her seventieth birthday.”)

– “Koninginnedag is niet de echte verjaardag van Beatrix…want zij is jarig op 31 januari…”
(“Queen’s Day is not Beatrix’ real birthday…because her birthday is on January 31st…” Beatrix honors her mother Juliana who had her birthday on April 30. Obviously the weather is also a lot better in April 🙂 )

Expression:
– “Abraham/Sara zien”: literally “to see Abraham/Sarah” this is said
when one reaches 50 – Abraham for the male and Sarah for the female.
You will see this on birthday cards or on decorated office doors.

Example:
– “Hij heeft Abraham gezien.”
(“He turned 50.”)

Related words:
– “Jarig“: No literal translation. “Jarig” is the adjective that indicates the state of one having one’s birthday.
– “Geboortedag”: day of birth, sometimes also “anniversary”.
– “Vieren“: to celebrate.
– “Feest“: party.
– “Viering”: celebration.

2. anniversary [noun] [de verjaardag, de verjaardagen] [‘ver-jaar-dag’]

Examples:
– “In 2003 vierde Cuba de vijftigste verjaardag van de Revolutie.”
(“In 2003 Cuba celebrated the Revolution’s fiftieth anniversary.”)

– “Vorig jaar heeft Lizy haar 25-jarige werkjubileum gevierd.”
(“Last year Lizy celebrated her 25th work anniversary.”)

Related word:
– “Jubileum”: jubilee, anniversary.

1. to celebrate [verb] [vierde, gevierd] [‘vie-run’]

Examples:
– “Sander viert vandaag zijn 32e verjaardag. Hiep hiep hoera!!!
(“Sander celebrates his 32nd birthday today. Hip, hip, hurray!!!”)

– “Wat?! Is Sander vandaag jarig??? Dat moet gevierd worden!”
(“What?! Is it Sander’s birthday today??? That calls for a celebration!” Lit.: “…That must be celebrated!”)

– “Iedere zondag om tien uur en om half twaalf wordt in de Sint Servaas Basiliek de heilige mis gevierd.”
(“Holy Mass is celebrated in the Basilica of Saint Servatius every Sunday at ten o’clock and at half past eleven.”)

Related words:
– “Feest“: party.
– “Jarig“: No literal translation. “Jarig” is the adjective that indicates the state of one having one’s birthday.

2. four [numeral] [‘vie-run’]

Examples:
– “Hoe laat hebben jullie afgesproken? – Rond vieren.”
(“What time have you agreed to meet? – Around four.”)

– “Met hoeveel personen zijn jullie? – Met z’n vieren.”
(“How many people are you? – Four.”)

3. fours [<plural> noun] [de vier, de vieren] [‘vie-run’]

Example:
– “Dat is juist, mijn telefoonnummer eindigt op twee vieren.”
(“That is correct, my phone number ends in two fours.”)

4. to pay out, to veer out, to ease, to slacken [verb] [vierde, gevierd] [‘vie-run’]

Example:
– “Mannen, er is een storm op komst, we moeten het zeil vieren!”
(“Men, there’s a storm coming, we must ease the sail!”)