Luxembourg vs The Netherlands

The Dutch flag is the ancestor of nearly all modern horizontal tricolors. During the 16th-century Dutch Revolt against Spanish Habsburg rule, William of Orange led rebel forces under the Prince's Flag (orange, white, and blue). Between about 1630 and 1660, the orange stripe gradually turned vermilion red as the Dutch Republic distanced itself from the House of Orange; a popular account also blames orange dye that faded quickly at sea.

Luxembourg's flag appeared in 1845 under Grand Duke William II, who was also King of the Netherlands under a personal union of the two crowns. However, Luxembourg heralds did not copy the Dutch flag. They pulled red, white, and light blue directly from the coat of arms of Count Henry V of Luxembourg, who in 1240 bore a crowned red lion climbing a shield of horizontal white and blue bars.

When the personal union ended in 1890, Luxembourg retained the flag. Because observers constantly confused it with the Dutch banner, the 1993 law that finally regulated the flag defined its blue as a bright blue, unlike the darker Dutch shade, and a Grand-Ducal regulation of July 27, 1993, set the exact colors.