ABSTRUSE
Cirque du Freak
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2003
- Posts
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No Windmills, Tulips or Wooden Shoes, Please
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Windmills, tulips and wooden shoes may be among the most beloved emblems of the Netherlands, but they are symbols the Dutch government hopes to avoid after it takes up the EU presidency, local media said on Tuesday.
The government decided such symbols were too "corny" and would detract from the image of the Netherlands that Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende wants to portray when the Dutch assume the rotating presidency of the 25-nation bloc on July 1.
"The cabinet isn't denying traditional symbols such as wooden clogs and tulips, but nevertheless we want to portray a more modern image," a spokesman for Dutch European Affairs Minister Atzo Nicolai was quoted as saying.
He added that tulips and wooden shoes might be seen as something "nice, but totally nutty."
In place of those symbols, the Dutch emblem for the EU presidency will incorporate the letters "NL" and the national colors -- red, white, blue and orange -- in a design that spells out "EU."
Balkenende's government, however, has decided to embrace at least one traditional Dutch symbol during the six-month EU presidency.
As thank-you gifts to journalists and others, it will hand out painted tins of Stroopwafels -- a sticky sweet cookie made of waffles and caramel that is a favorite Dutch treat.
I say we offer up Black Tulip as the new national symbol.
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Windmills, tulips and wooden shoes may be among the most beloved emblems of the Netherlands, but they are symbols the Dutch government hopes to avoid after it takes up the EU presidency, local media said on Tuesday.
The government decided such symbols were too "corny" and would detract from the image of the Netherlands that Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende wants to portray when the Dutch assume the rotating presidency of the 25-nation bloc on July 1.
"The cabinet isn't denying traditional symbols such as wooden clogs and tulips, but nevertheless we want to portray a more modern image," a spokesman for Dutch European Affairs Minister Atzo Nicolai was quoted as saying.
He added that tulips and wooden shoes might be seen as something "nice, but totally nutty."
In place of those symbols, the Dutch emblem for the EU presidency will incorporate the letters "NL" and the national colors -- red, white, blue and orange -- in a design that spells out "EU."
Balkenende's government, however, has decided to embrace at least one traditional Dutch symbol during the six-month EU presidency.
As thank-you gifts to journalists and others, it will hand out painted tins of Stroopwafels -- a sticky sweet cookie made of waffles and caramel that is a favorite Dutch treat.
I say we offer up Black Tulip as the new national symbol.
