Next: 27 Apr 2027
King's Day
A whole country in orange, for the royal House of Orange-Nassau: shirts, wigs, cakes and canal boats.
The colours of King's Day
On the birthday of King Willem-Alexander, 27 April, the Netherlands turns orange. If the date is a Sunday the party moves to the Saturday. Orange is not on the Dutch flag, which is red, white and blue. It is the colour of the royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau, whose name goes back to the town of Orange in southern France. The Dutch call the result oranjegekte, orange madness: orange shirts, hats, feather boas and face paint, orange pastries called tompouce with orange icing in place of the usual pink, and orange drinks. An orange streamer is flown above the flag. Cities hold open street markets, and Amsterdam's canals are packed with boats of people in orange.
#FF6F00OranjeThe colour of the House of Orange-Nassau.#AE1C28Flag redTop band of the Dutch flag.#FFFFFFFlag whiteMiddle band.#21468BFlag blueLower band.Values are fair approximations, not official shades.
Also part of it, and being written: Orange (The Dutch royal and national colour.), Shades of orange (Any orange is worn.).
Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Koningsdag" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.