The origin of the red-white-blue tricolour is not entirely clear; some sources suggest that it developed merely as a variant of orange-white-blue because the orange dye would tend to fade to red over time.

[1] During the early part of the First Stadtholderless Period (1650–1672), the government of the Dutch Republic wanted to appease the republican government of the Commonwealth of England, and because the colour orange was associated with the House of Stuart, the orange-white-blue Prince's Flag was banned in 1652, replaced by the red-white-blue "States Flag".

[3] It appears that prior to 1664, the red-white-blue tricolour was commonly known as the "Flag of Holland" (Hollandsche Vlag).

[4] In the 1930s, the supporters of the NSB chose the orange-white-blue and the Prince's Flag as their symbol.

Queen Wilhelmina in 1937 signed a Royal Decree that the colours red, white and blue are set as the official colours of the Dutch flag, partly as a signal directed at the NSB.