By Jhr. mr. Alexander W. Beelaerts van Blokland, Justice (Judge) in the (Dutch) Court of Appeal and Honorary Special Adviser International Affairs, appointed in 2004 by the Mayor and Aldermen of the City of The Hague.
The Netherlands’ three main cities are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. All over the world and in every language Amsterdam and Rotterdam have the same name: Amsterdam and Rotterdam. And The Hague ? In every language it has a different name like The Hague in English and La Haye in French. But even in The Netherlands itself it has two names: ’s-Gravenhage and Den Haag. That is very confusing and very bad for the branding of the city.
Just imagine someone abroad asks someone who just returned from The Netherlands: ‘Did you visit the beautiful old city of ’s-Gravenhage ?’ and the answer is: ‘No, I am very sorry, but I did visit another beautiful old city: Den Haag !’
The City of The Hague has chosen for ‘Den Haag’; the old name of ’s-Gravenhage will disappear little by little. And for the international name Den Haag has chosen for ‘The Hague’, being the translation in the language that is spoken by most internationally orientated people in the world: English.
Recently The Hague has presented a new word mark with ‘Den Haag’ as well as ‘The Hague’ in two colors: black (or dark-blue ?) in the beginning, green at the end and both in the middle. You will see it at the moment at banners all over the city. The Hague’s typographic logo makes the name of the city immediately recognisable.
All businesses, institutes and organisations working to market The Hague may make use of the word mark and others who support the city can also use this word mark, free of royalties. The designers ensured that the typographic logo is easy to use and can be applied to various means of communications and different target groups.
The logo represents the connection of the diversity in The Hague: an international city of style, but with a no nonsense mentality. Different worlds tied together by the city.
The word mark will be included in the online Brand Book The Hague, developed as part of The Hague City Branding 2020 project. This branding book contains articles, photos, films, facts and figures showing what makes The Hague unique and what it stands for.
