Flag of the Netherlands the 15th century, when the majority of the Netherlands provinces were united under the Duke of Burgundy, the Cross of Burgundy Flag of the Duke of Burgundy was used for joint expeditions, which consisted of a red saltire resembling two crossed, roughly-pruned (knotted) branches, on a white field. Under the later House of Habsburg this flag remained in use. In 1572 provinces of the Low Countries rose in revolt against King Philip II of Spain, and William Prince of Orange (1533–1584) placed himself at the head of the rebels. The colour "orange" is a reference to the name of the
International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement decided to promote officially the idea that the Red Cross flag had been formed by reversing the federal colours of Switzerland, although no clear evidence of this origin had ever been found. The Red Crescent emblem was first used by ICRC volunteers during the armed conflict of 1876–8 between the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire. The symbol was officially adopted in 1929, and so far 33 states in the Muslim world have recognized it. In common with the official promotion of the red cross symbol as a colour-reversal of the Swiss flag (rather than a religious symbol), the red