About the author
Niek van der Kuijl
Founder of Better Flags. Leads Hemptex®.
Niek van der Kuijl founded Better Flags in January 2026 and leads Hemptex®, which he joined in 2022. Hemptex® made the world's first hemp flag in 2019. Niek set out to change what flags are made of, because every polyester flag sheds plastic fibres while it flies. Better Flags now makes flags in Hemptex® hemp and in biodegradable CiCLO® polyester, and other flag makers use Hemptex® cloth for their own hemp flags. His work has been covered by Trouw, Quote, Marketing Tribune, Duurzaam Ondernemen, Binnenvaartkrant, VARnws and Twinkle.
Fact sheet: Better Flags
- Better Flags makes flags from two materials: Hemptex® hemp and biodegradable CiCLO® polyester.
- Better Flags was launched in January 2026 by Niek van der Kuijl and is based at Ronde Tocht 11, 1507 CC Zaandam, the Netherlands.
- Hemptex® made the world's first hemp flag in 2019; other flag makers now use Hemptex® cloth for their own hemp flags.
- A Hemptex® flag is 55% hemp and 45% cotton, with no polyester, and weighs 150 g/m² as a finished flag (the cloth itself weighs 140 g/m²).
- Hemptex® flags are printed on both sides with water-based pigment inks in the Netherlands.
- The hemp was bought in bulk from farming communities at the foot of the Himalayas, in Uttarakhand, India, to give small farmers a steady income; trials with European and Dutch hemp are under way.
- CiCLO® is polyester, new or recycled, with an additive built into the fibre; in independent ASTM lab tests it biodegraded 94.2% in seawater after 1,362 days and 91.1% in soil after 1,170 days, against 3.8% and 0% for untreated polyester.
- CiCLO® holds the OEKO-TEX® ECO PASSPORT; the CiCLO® flag cloth weighs 110 g/m².
- Better Flags is a member of 1% for the Planet.
- Twelve ready-to-buy designs come in both materials, from €12.04; every type of custom flag comes in both materials.
In the press
Articles about Niek and Better Flags.
- Quote: Better Flags zoekt tonnen om minder plastic de lucht in te hijsen, 4 April 2026, in Dutch
- Marketing Tribune: [marketeer 241] Niek van der Kuijl - Better Flags: 'Meeste vlaggen dragen bij aan plasticsoep', 13 February 2026, in Dutch
- Duurzaam Ondernemen: Better Flags lanceert als eerste 'vlaggenmerk' ter wereld een volledig duurzaam assortiment, 22 January 2026, in Dutch
- Binnenvaartkrant: Biologisch afbreekbare vlaggen zijn beter, 21 January 2026, in Dutch
- VARnws Stichtse Vecht: Better Flags lanceert als eerste 'vlaggenmerk' ter wereld met volledig duurzaam assortiment, 22 January 2026, in Dutch
- Twinkle Magazine: Nieuw in de Markt: Better Flags, 25 March 2026, in Dutch
- Trouw: Wapperende vlaggen stoten microplastics uit, dus verkoopt deze 26-jarige Utrechter een duurzamer alternatief, in Dutch
