^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Melle (Municipality, Province of East Flanders, Belgium)

Municipal flag of Melle - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 7 July 2005

Presentation of Melle
Municipal flag of Melle

See also:

Presentation of Melle

The municipality of Melle (10,575 inhabitants on 3 May 2004; 1,521 ha) is located a few kilometers south-west of Ghent. It is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Melle and Gontrode.

Melle was already mentioned on a chart dated 830, according to Dr. M. Gysseling. H. Verbist claims that the name of the city comes from the Celtic word melina, which means brown water. Gysseling believes the name of Melle is related to the Prehistoric anthroponym "Melinos", meaning with honey-yellow hair. Melle was indeed inhabited in the Prehistoric times, as shown by several artifacts found on the territory of the municipality.

Melle is made of three parts, Melle-Centrum, Melle-Vogelhoek, a borough which developed in the beginning of the XXth century because of the development of the neighbouring marshalling yard of Merelbeke, and, since the administrative reform of 1977, Gontrode, the rural part of the municipality. Gontrode (the place were trees were uprooted and laid down near the river Gont) was mentioned for the first time in an agreement beetween St. Bavo's abbey and Hildegardis van Melne (that is, Melle) in 1229. During the First World War, there was an airfield with a huge hangar for zeppelins in Gontrode.

In the past, Melle and Gontrode belonged to the Country of Rode, which was made of seventeen parishes: Bottelare, Melsen, Munte and Schelderode, today included in the municipality of Merelbeke; Balegem, Gijzenzele, Landskouter, Moortsele, Oosterzele and Scheldewindeke, forming today the municipality of Oosterzele; Bavegem, Letterhoutem and Vlierzele, today included in the municipality of Sint-Lievens-Houtem; Gentbrugge, today included in the municipality of Ghent; Melle and Gontrode, forming today the municipality of Melle; and the exclave of Beerlegem, today included in the municipality of Zwalm.
The lords of Rode are known since the XIIth century, when their early domain included only Balegem, Beerlegem, Moortsele and Schelderode. The other parishes were obtained by swapping them for other possessions with the Count of Flanders and the St. Peter abbey, in 1226 and 1232, respectively. The lord of Rode was one of the most powerful in the County of Flanders; his title was upgraded to Baron in 1565 and Marquis in 1682. The Rode family was succeeded as lord of Rode by the families of Kortrjik, Kassen, Bar, Luxembourg and Bourbon. King of France Henri IV sold in 1602 the Land of Rode to Simeon (Simao) Rodriguez de Evora y Vega, a merchant of Antwerp of Portuguese origin.
The lords of Melle built in the XIIIth century a stone fortress called castle Cortrosine. The castle was trashed by the Huguenots during the religious wars in 1579. Melle was a place of residence for the rich burghers from Ghent, which built there beautiful manors, like those called de Bueren, ter Camere and de Varens.

Sources:

Ivan Sache, 21 January 2007

Municipal flag of Melle

The municipal flag of Melle is diagonally (per bend sinister) divided red-yellow with the municipal arms in the middle. The municipal arms are:

Or, four chevrons gules.

According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag and arms were adopted by the Municipal Council on 18 February 1980, confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on 10 December 1980, and published in the Belgian official gazette on 3 February 1981.

The arms of the new municipality of Melle have nothing to do with the arms of the former municipalities of Melle and Gontrode.
Melle used until 1976 as its municipal arms the arms of Rode supported by St. Martin and the poor. The arms of Melle were adopted by the Municipal Council on 27 June 1950, confirmed by Royal Decree on 19 February 1951 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 15 March 1951, with the following description:
Van goud met een leeuw van sabel genageld en getongd van keel met een uitgeschulpte zoom van sabel - het schild geplaatst voor een Sint-Martinus met aureool te paard, houdende in de rechterhand een zwaard waarmee hij zijn mantel, die hij met de linkerhand houdt, in tweeën snijdt, en waarvan hij de helgt geeft aan een arme, op de grond gezeten, rechts, steunend met de linkerhand op een kruk, alles geplaatst op een grasgrond, het geheel van goud.

Gontrode used until 1976 as its municipal arms the arms of Rode, with the black letters G and T added in chief and supported by the black lion holding the banner of arms of Rode. The arms of Gontrode were granted on 13 October 1819 with the following description:
Van goud beladen met een klimmenden zwarten leeuw getongd en genageld van rood, het schild gezoomd met een zwarte getande rand en van achter vastgehouden door een zittende zwarte leeuw op het schild ter regter zijde is geplaatst een banier van goud beladen met een ter linker zijde klimmenden zwarten leeuw, getongd en genageld van rood. Het schild is vermeederd met de letters G.T.

Source: Land van Rode Heemkundig Genootschaap website, quoting Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel

Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 21 January 2007