Hendrick Jansz. Spijcker, called de Veer, as Standard Bearer,

Assuming a self-assured stance, this sitter proudly presents himself as officer and ensign of a Dutch rifle company. At the time of the painting’s creation, the most distinguished of these military units were comparable to citizen militias. They also assumed an important role in the Northern Dutch provinces’ struggle for independence from Spanish-Habsburg superiority. The coat of arms identifies the life-size ensign as Hendrick Jansz. Spijcker (born 1554), officer of a rifle company in Utrecht.