Hats in the Air

Throwing hats in the air is normally a symbol of freedom, but in this case the artist Auke de Vries had another symbolic meaning on his mind when he made the 'Chapeau' sculpure.

He decided to refer to the expression 'I take off my hat' as symbol of respect instead.

Initially the flying hats sculpture are part of the study of portraying her Majesty the Queen Beatrix - our former Queen renowned for wearing hats - on our national coins. By the way, the hat never made it to the coin.

Later the artist created this sculpture and it was displayed during a temporary exhibition on the Lange Voorhout to celebrate Queen Beatrix's 25th year as reigning monarch in 2005. In total she reigned 33 years.

Currently it has been moved to a more permanent location in the public gardens of the Noordeinde Palace.


Theres also a wide angel shot of the entire sculpture and the shot above in color on my Flickr page.