Vaandel van het Korps Jagers der Utrechtsche Hooge School + 1835 - 1850

Albertus Verhoesen created this print of the Standard of the Utrecht Student Corps of Hunters sometime in the 19th century. It depicts a member of the student militia standing to attention with his rifle and the Corps flag. Student militias like this one were a common sight in Europe from the late 18th century onward, particularly after the Napoleonic Wars. They represented a new kind of civic identity, one where young men were trained to defend the liberal values of the newly established nation state. The flag itself is full of symbols that would have been instantly recognizable: the rising sun of a new era and the emblem of Utrecht itself. Prints like this are important historical documents. They tell us about the way the rising middle classes in the Netherlands began to think of themselves as citizens with a stake in the country’s future. Catalogues, archives and regimental histories can tell us more about the social function of these organizations and their place in Dutch Society.