The province of Groningen officially amended its flag protocol on May 26, 2026, designating Keti Koti as a permanent flag day.
The change commemorates the history of slavery and celebrates its abolition.
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Under the new guidelines, the provincial house in Groningen will fly the flag at half-staff on June 30 for remembrance.
On July 1, the flag will be raised to the top of the staff.
Slavery was legally abolished in the Dutch colonies on July 1, 1863, though it took ten more years for the practice to fully end.
Groningen is now the third province to adopt this practice, following Zeeland and Drenthe. Amsterdam has already flown flags for Keti Koti for years.
The decision was quickly approved by the provincial executive coalition, consisting of BBB, GroenLinks, PvdA, and VVD parties, at the Martinikerkhof.
No additional commemorative events will be organized by the province for either day.
“I call on all other provinces to also start flagging with Keti Koti,” said Groningen regional minister Pascal Roemers, a PvdA politician, in a statement to RTV Noord.
Roemers noted that former Prime Minister Mark Rutte and King Willem-Alexander offered formal apologies for the Dutch history of slavery in recent years.
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He also highlighted the thousands of local residents with Surinamese or Antillean backgrounds.
“We find it more than appropriate to fly the flag for that reason,” said Roemers.
The national flag instruction from the central government mandates only a few days for all government buildings, including King's Day, May 4 and 5, Veterans Day, and August 15.
However, municipalities and provinces can add their own local flag moments.
“It went very quickly and it was almost a hammer piece. We all see the added value of flagging with Keti Koti,” said Roemers.
The provincial administration emphasized the gesture's cultural weight given current societal developments. “I think it is precisely necessary in this time.
In which we increasingly see things playing up in society, I don't think I need to explain that to anyone.
It is precisely good to show that you stand for what has been achieved.
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Keti Koti and thus the abolition of slavery and the associated excuse of the Netherlands and with it the flagging in the province of Groningen, I think it is of great value,” said Roemers.
