Photo: Micha L. Rieser
The common gull is not to blame, but does appear to have ended up in the PVV logo. An opportunistic bird that now depends above all on migration.
We may be called ‘mentally ill’ for saying so, but the stylised red, white and blue gull in the PVV logo does seem to have been inspired primarily by the common gull (Larus canus). This sparked a minor controversy in 2008 when the Frisian historian Gjalt Zondergeld pointed out similarities between the PVV logo and an NSB poster from 1941, in which a gull and ‘freedom’ feature prominently (Historisch Nieuwsblad, 2008). The gull was also the symbol of the NSB youth movement Jeugdstorm, and their magazine was even called De Stormmeeuw. The ANP news agency reported at the time that PVV party leader Geert Wilders was furious about the allegations. He called the article ‘the work of a sick mind’ and stated that the logo had been designed by a graphic designer. ‘We wanted a positive emblem and he came up with a bird’, said Wilders. He went on to complain: ‘People are constantly trying to put me in the wrong corner and I have to keep defending myself.’
That sounds quite plausible: the gull is a symbol of freedom, just as the dove is of peace. Now that the PVV lost only twelve seats in the recent elections and came a measured second, perhaps the European herring gull (Larus argentatus) would be a better candidate? No – a glance at WildersWebWinkel at the sold-out Vrijheidsmeeuw makes it clear that the PVV gull – like the common gull – has dark eyes and therefore looks friendlier than the European herring gull with its ‘mean’ yellow eyes.
Opportunistic
Linnaeus named the common gull Larus canus in 1758, from the words for ‘gull’ and ‘grey’. The species, not much loved on account of its screaming, is found in the Netherlands mainly along the coast. It is regarded as an opportunistic breeder, laying eggs in dune slacks, on arable fields, on rooftops and in window boxes alike. Yet the breeding population has shrunk by around two thirds nationally since 1990 (Sovonnieuws, 2020). The fact that some 160,000 common gulls are still flying around on average is due mainly to the annual winter migration and passage from the north-east. It is migration alone that is keeping the declining common gull afloat.