Winsum is a village in Littenseradiel, in Fryslân province in the
Netherlands, not to be confused with Winsum
municipality in Groningen province.
At this webpage is a description
of Coat of Arms and flag of the village. Winsum was formerly part of the (dissolved)
municipality of
Baarderadeel, and on the flag the main
colors of the former municipal flag have been retained in a diagonal division.
The red pole on the yellow field is a "polsstok", a pole used
for jumping over ditches. In Winsum the first pole-jumping (fierljeppen)
competitions were held in the 1950's. Red is a color of the new municipality
of Littenseradiel.
The three white disks are "keatsballen", used in the game of
"keatsen", in French named "jeu de paume", something like
playing tennis with your bare hand as racket, and the ball as small as
a golf-ball, white, filled with horse-hair (and very hard!).
The cog-wheel is for Miedema's firm of agricultural implements. <Solid
stuff, my dad used to rely on his carts etc.>
The name of the village is the same in Frisian and Dutch.
Jarig Bakker, 23 Jul 2003
What you described was known as "jeu de paume" (in English real or royal
tennis, the "paum" being the palm of the hand). The game was very popular,
with regional variants, but is now nearly extincted. However, the name
of the game has remained famous because of the "Salle du Jeu de Paume"
in Versailles. During the 1789 General States, King Louis XVI prevented
the Deputies of the Third Estate to gather in the "Salle des Menus-Plaisirs",
where they had started to gather. The Deputies moved to the real tennis
hall, where they swore on 20 June 1789 "not to leave the hall before having
drafted a Constitution for France". The oath is known as the "Serment du
Jeu de Paume", or, at school, as the "Serrement du Jus de Pomme" ("Pressure
of Apple Juice").
Ivan Sache, 23 Jul 2003
![[Winsum village flag]](../images/n/nl-fr0wn.gif)
Shipmate Flagchart : http://www.flagchart.net
![[Winsum Coat of Arms]](../images/n/nl-fr)wn.jpg)
from this webpage.
