Who was St Martin?

He was born in 316 in Sabaria in present day Hungary. His father was a military in the Roman army. As a Roman family they worshipped the Roman gods. He was called Martinus after the Roman god of war Mars (= warrior). As a young man Martinus was already interested in the new faith: Christianity. However, his father was not interested at all and sent him against his will, into the army. Through Pavia in Italy, he was finally stationed in Gallia, present-day France.

According to the legend, he gave there the half of his red soldiers' coat to an almost naked beggar. The beggar asked for an alms, but Martinus did not have any money and he was not allowed to give his complete coat. That is why he took his sword and cut his coat in two parts. At night he had a special dream. The beggar with the half of his red coat appeared to him and he was told that he had shared his coat with Jesus himself.

After this event Martinus was baptized and very soon he left the army. He became a hermit in Ligugé, near Poitiers (France). He was very happy there because this was his ideal. People came very often to him to ask for advice and help. He becaume known as a good and helpful human being. Gradually a group of followers was formed around him, the first cloister community in Western Europe.

In those days the bishop of Tours died and they were looking for a successor. Against the will of the other bishops, the people wanted Martinus as a bishop. Martinus himself did not want to become a bishop and preferred to remain a hermit.

During many years he combined his life as a hermit with the episcopacy of Tours. He was known as a good, pious and wise man. As a bishop he travelled widely to do missionary work in the Frankish state. During one of his travels, in 397, he died in Candes and was buried on 11th November in Tours (France). The description of his life with many miraculous stories was almost ready then. The author was Sulpitius Severus, his contemporary. Very soon the church declared him to be a saint. 11th November became St. Martin's Day.

The flag and the coat of arms of Utrecht

The Francs in France guarded the half of the red soldiers' coat in a chapel and St. Martin became their most popular patron saint. On their campaigns they took the coat with them as their banner in order to be successful in their battles. They were followed by missionaries who wanted to christianize the conquered people. They also came to the northern part of Europe, where they founded many churches named St. Martin. One of the missionaires was Willibrord and around 700 he built inside the old Roman castellum of Utrecht, on the present Domsquare, a small church of St. Martin. In this way St.Martin became the patron saint of Willibrord's settlement and later on this settlement became Utrecht. Until to-day the city of Utrecht has two churches named St.Martin and the former parish of St. Martin is still a part of the present city parish of the Roman Catholic church.

The coat of arms and the flag of the city of Utrecht demonstrate the story of the coat's partition. The red part is the coat, the white part is the undergarment of St. Martin. The official banner in the city hall of Utrecht shows us the red/white division, but on the white part the patron saint St. Martin is depicted, sharing his coat with a beggar. The banner used to be guarded in a church called Buurkerk in Utrecht. The banner and the coat of arms had St.Martin on the white part until 1528. In that year Charles V (emperor of Germany, Spain and Holland) took over the worldly power of the Utrecht bishops and he becaume the ruler of Utrecht. He had the image of St. Martin removed from the banner and the coat of arms and had it replaced by the double eagle. This was to show that he was in charge.

In 1948 the city of Utrecht restored the old habit: St. Martin was placed again on the city's flag. About 20 years ago the same city removed the saint again from the flag, but the saint is still depicted on the banner. You can see it in the city hall.

If you want to purchase the city's flag, please read about it in the section 'articles' (artikelen).