Countries

Belgium

A small country split along a language line: Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north, French-speaking Wallonia in the south, and a German-speaking community in the east. Brussels, officially bilingual, hosts the main institutions of the European Union and NATO.

The ornate gilded guildhouses of the Grand-Place in Brussels, lit up at twilight

Grand-Place, Brussels

Photo: Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), CC BY 4.0

Black, yellow and red come from the arms of the Duchy of Brabant: a gold lion with red claws and tongue on a black field. Adopted after the 1830 revolution, with vertical bands after the French tricolor.

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