Orange on King's Day
Amsterdam
Once a year the brick-and-water city turns entirely orange for the King's birthday.
Why Amsterdam is dutch orange
For most of the year Amsterdam is the colour of dark brick, white-trimmed gables, green canal water and the so-called canal green of many front doors. On 27 April it changes. King's Day marks the birthday of the Dutch monarch, and people dress in orange from head to foot, hang orange flags and fill the canals with boats of orange-clad passengers. The colour comes from the royal family's name, the House of Orange-Nassau, which goes back to William of Orange, leader of the Dutch revolt in the 16th century. Orange is not in the national flag, but it is the colour of national sports teams. The city also holds a street market that day.
Values are fair approximations of what the eye sees there, not measurements.
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Amsterdam" on Wikipedia. If you know Amsterdam and we have it wrong, tell us.
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๐ณ๐ฆ The red dunes of the NamibSossusvleiSome of the tallest sand dunes on earth, coloured orange-red by iron, around white clay pans.Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Varanasi In: Marcin Biaลek, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nagpur In: Gppande, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Luang Prabang La: Shelly Zohar, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sossusvlei Na: Anagoria, CC BY 3.0, source
- Delft Nl: W. Bulach, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zaanse Schans Nl: Frila, CC BY-SA 3.0, source