Brecht

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BRECHT

Province : Antwerpen
Additions : 1977 Sint-Job-in-'t-Goor, Sint-Lenaarts

Official blazon

(1819) Van lazuur beladen met den aartsengel Michael den satan vertrappende, alles van goud.
(1841) Een blauw veld, met het gulden beeld van Sint Michiel vergezeld ter linker zyde van een gulden schildeken, waerop tien blauwe ruyten, 3,3,3 en 1.
(1991) In lazuur een Sint-Michiel met de draak van goud, links vergezeld van een schild van keel, beladen met tien aaneengesloten en aanstotende ruiten van zilver, drie, drie, drie en een geplaatst.

Origin/meaning

The arms were granted on October 6, 1819, improved on December 18, 1841 and again with different colours on October 1, 1991.

The arms show St. Michael, the patron saint of Brecht, holding a small shield with the arms of the Lalaing family, Counts of Hoogstraten, Lords of Brecht from 1620-1793. The 1819 arms do not show the Lalaing arms, the 1841 grant showed the Lalaing arms, but in gold.

The colours of the 1819 and 1841 arms are the Dutch national colours, as in 1813 the mayor applied without indicating the colours. The arms were thus granted in the national colours. When the arms were confirmed after the Belgian independence, the colours were not changed. Only in 1991 the colours of the small shield were adjusted.