On the 27th April, citizens of the Netherlands fill the streets to celebrate King’s Day. During this national holiday, the canals overflow with people clad head to toe in orange, singing “Oranje boven, leve de koning,” meaning “Orange above all, long live the king”.

For the uninitiated foreigner, orange seems like a random color, given that the country’s national flag is red, white and blue. In fact, the color comes from the family name of the Dutch Royal Family, the House of Orange-Nassau. And the flag <i>was</i> originally orange, white and blue, designed by William of Orange himself, before it was changed to red after the War of Independence. Due to the country’s association with the colour, Dutch Orange is now an official shade in its own right.