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Stadsdeel Osdorp (The Netherlands)

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland province

image by Jarig Bakker, 14 Aug 2006

Stadsdeel Osdorp
Sloten village

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Stadsdeel Osdorp

Amsterdam is divided in 14 "stadsdelen" (city-parts), most of which have logo-flags. There may be a subtle change in this field, as Amsterdam-Osdorp adopted some time ago a flag, in which the logo doesn't dominate the design. It is quartered yellow-red-black-white, in which the fly is c. 1/6 of flaglength; on yellow at the hoist the citypart's logo: a vertical row of three red crosses above the black contour of an oxen's head.
An image of the flag is at this webpage, while at this webpage one can see it flying.

Osdorp ("Oxen village") has 45.000 inhabitants. It is in West-Amsterdam, consisting of the former cityparts of Osdorp, Geuzenveld/Slotermeer and Slotervaart, the Western Gardencities (Westelijke Tuinsteden), and the former village of Sloten, all along the lake of Sloterplas. Most of the area was formerly the lake of Slotermeer, which was reclaimed in 1644. Since 1956 the Sloterplas has been dug to get sand for building the Western Gardencities. Osdorp was probably "Oostdorp" - Eastvillage, seen from Haarlem. Old manuscripts and maps of Holland mention since c. 1100 "Ostdorp" or "Oostdorp". The inhabitants are oriented on Haarlem. In 1529 the Lord of Brederode sold Osdorp to Amsterdam, and Haarlem's influence vanished. In 1921 Amsterdam annexed the area definitively. Only in 1957 effective building was started.

To most Amsterdammers Osdorp is at the end of the world, although one can get there fast by Tramway 1. Recently it gained popularity because of the Bunker, where our most successful criminals are tried.

The oxen's face represents the popular etymology of Osdorp, the three crosses represent Amsterdam, while the colors represent the citypart, possibly derived from Sloten
Jarig Bakker, 14 Aug 2006

Sloten village

image by Jarig Bakker, 20 May 2004
adopted ?; design: F. Muller

Sloten village, Noord-Holland province
"In Sep 2000 I saw in the heart of the old village of Sloten near Amsterdam a village-flag: "Two stripes yellow-red with in the center the old coat of arms, confirmed 26 Jun 1816, of the municipality of Sloten (which was merged into Amsterdam in 1921): "Quartered: I. in black a blue cake charged with a golden five-pointed star (Sloterdijk); II. in red three golden padlocks, placed 1 and 2 (Sloten); III. in red a gyron issuing from sinister (De Vrije Geer - The Free Chevron); IV. in silver a turned black-patched ox of natural colors, standing on a rising green terrace (Osdorp)."
The old manor of Sloten (in Dutch it has a double meaning: ditches and locks) consisted of those 4 entities. However it cannot be used for one of the Amsterdam city-parts. The original village of Sloten is now part of Osdorp, the ward Nieuw-Sloten belongs to Slotervaart-Overtoomse Veld. The old village of Sloterdijk is part of Geuzenveld-Slotermeer en Bos en Lommer. The flag obviously has no official purpose, but is apparently used for the original village, in the good old days capital of the huge municipality of Sloten, to which Osdorp and Sloterdijk belonged.
One small detail: in the arms, confirmed in 1816, the ox is red-patched, while on the flag it is in the colors of Ús Mem (that's the statue of his mum in Leeuwarden)."
Source: Vexilla Nostra #237, 2003; article by Hans van Heijningen.
Jarig Bakker, 20 May 2004