![[Flag of Diepenbeek]](../images/b/be-vlidp.gif)
Last modified: 2008-09-06 by ivan sache
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Municipal flag of Diepenbeek - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 19 August 2005
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The municipality of Diepenbeek (17,778 inhabitants on 1 July 2007; 4,119 ha) is located on the river Demer, partly in Haspengouw (in French, Hesbaye) and partly in Kempen (in French, Campine), close to the the towns of Hasselt, Genk and Bilzen.
Diepenbeek was disputed for a long period between the Prince-Bishop of
Liège and the Duke of Brabant, because of its strategical location on the road to Maastricht.
Diepenbeek is located close to the industrial park of Genk, which
explains its recent developpment. Moreover, the Limburg University
Center of Diepenbeek, recently renamed Hasselt University (Universiteit Hasselt), was founded in 1973 and most of its 5,000 students
live in the town.
The Stroese, one of the strongest genevers in Flanders (up to 40
degrees) is produced in Diepenbeek. It is sold in nice square bottles,
with a label showing three people, a rural policeman, an innkeeper and
a pastor, who all drunk Stroese in excess.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache & Jan Mertens, 19 August 2005
The municipal flag of Diepenbeek is vertically divided red and yellow
with the municipal shield of arms in the middle.
According to Gemeentewapens in België - Vlaanderen en Brussel, the flag was adopted by the Municipal Council on 31 August 1981, confirmed by the Executive of Flanders on 3
December 1984 and published in the Belgian official gazette on 8 July
1986, with the following official description:
Twee even lange banen van rood en geel met op het midden het
wapenschild van de gemeente.
The colours of the flag are not explained; red and yellow might recall that
Diepenbeek once belonged to Liège.
The municipal arms of Diepenbeek are the arms of the Teutonic Order,
the last feudal lord of Diepenbeek; they were granted by Royal Decree
on 29 March 1961. The description of the complete arms was amended by
the Municipal Council on 15 May 1995, as follows:
In zilver een gelijnd breedarmig kruis van sabel; het schild geplaatst
voor een Sint-Servaas, houdend in de rechterhand een sleutel en in de
linkerhand een bisschopsstaf, het geheel van goud.
The shield of arms is presented by the patron saint of Diepenbeek, St.
Servaas (in French, Servais), holding in his right hand a key and in his left hand a bishop's crozier, all in gold.
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 19 August 2005
The Hasselt University was founded as LUC (Limburgs Universitair Centrum - University Centre Limburg) in 1971, offering candidate (undergraduate) courses in sciences and medicine, and the Diepenbeek Campus was set up in 1973. The local economics faculty was taken over in 1991 to become applied economics department. The University cooperated with the Dutch University of Maastricht in founding tUL, the transnational University Limburg, in 2000. The name of the University was changed to Universiteit Hasselt (Hasselt University) in 2005. The University, including tUL, currently caters about about 2,500 students.
The flag of the University of Hasselt - Diepenbeek Campus is white with a variant of the University emblem in the middle. The genuine emblem is made of the words "universiteit" in dark blue above "hasselt" in reddish brown, "hasselt" being shifted to the right by two "fast forward" triangles, red and blue, respectively. On the flag, the triangles are placed in upper fly and the words "campus / Diepenbeek" are placed on the left of "hasselt".
The Hasselt Campus of the University might use a similar flag with the appropriate place name.
Jan Mertens & Ivan Sache, 29 April 2008
