My mother's maiden name was Flanders. My 8th great grandfather was Stephen Flanders who came from England to Massachusetts in the early 1600's, the first Flanders in America. My 5th great grandfather is buried in Vermont. On his tombstone this lion is engraved with the words as best I can make out Vleendren en de leu.
It probably says "Vlaanderen en de leeuw", which means "Flanders and the lion". He probably choose Flanders as his last name based on where he originally came from, like Vito Corleone did in The Godfather.
Fun fact: Dit is niet "Vlaanderen". Dit is GRAAFSCHAP Vlaanderen (nu West-Vl & Oost-Vl). Hertogdom Brabant (nu Brabant & Antwerpen) vocht mee met de Fransen, de Limburgers hadden geen vertouwen dat ze zouden winnen, en liet Vlaanderen in de steek. Wie wel aan Vlaamse kant stond: graafschap Namen (yup, nu Namen, WALLONIE).
The County of Flanders is one of the ancestors of modern Flemings, alongside the Duchy of Brabant and the County of Loon. And who cares if the Walloons helped us 700 years ago?
@@flemishnationalist-prayfor9809 Who cares? Anyone who appreciates the HUMONGOUS irony that the theme songs of the anti-walloon flemish movenent are litterly about flems and walloons working together against other flems & french. When Atwerp mayer Bart De Wever proudly sings De Vlaamse Leeuw, not realising Antwerp, opposite to namen, was part of the bad guys ... that's just too funny. Though I'm going to assume the irony is lost on you, ... just like the irony seems lost on you that someone who calls himself or heself "flemish nationalist", responds in english to a post written in dutch.
@@wulfheort8021 Aaaaw, the 12 year old nazi is here. Fuck Germany, fuck Hitler and his whole party. I am a nationalist of some sort but killing of 17 million people because of their ethnicity is bad. That pagen will burn in hell.
@@flemishnationalist-prayfor9809In Frans Vlaanderen ofzo? Er zijn in 1906 inderdaad 600.000 jaar oude leeuwenfosielen gevonden. Er was nog geen sprake van een mens. En deze kwamen hoogstwaarschijnlijk uit Afrika net zoals de eerste mens, die zich immers ook in Belgiê vestigde. Succes met uw logica.
