“Vicit Njord iterum, rex ille manebit aquarum”
The victory strips on the stern in their full glory, right next to the little flag.
Next to the flag on the bow is now a bare spot. However, there used to be four stripes: one blue and three white. Such stripes on a boat have a special meaning: for every victory achieved in a boat, a stripe is placed on the stern: an act known as 'striping'. The K.S.R.V. “Njord” celebrates their victories each year with the so-called Striping Dinner. During this dinner, which traditionally takes place right before the new season starts in September, victorious rowers are allowed to mark the boat that they’ve won in; the ladies paint a blue stripe, and the men a white one.
The reason for this difference goes all the way back to 1971 when K.S.R.V. “Njord” started to accept female rowers. The women wanted a new color for the club uniform as a sign of a new start, but the men wanted to continue rowing in their white shirts as they had done for almost a century at that time. In the end, a compromise was made: men continued to row in white, but the women were allowed to wear blue. This makes Njord the only boat club in the Netherlands with different uniforms for men and women.