Special Movember: 8 Belgians who adopted the stach

For some reason, people tend to always picture Belgians (and also Frenchmen) with a moustache. It is definitely not a typically Belgian feature and, although some hipsters tend to get one "ironically" nowadays, it is not very popular here... Yet this months, you will probably see a bit more people with it because of "Movember", a charity event in which men grow moustaches in November to remind others of cancers and other health issues. As a support for this event, I have made a list of famous people or characters from Belgium who usually wear a stach, a good way to know more about our culture.

1) Hercule Poirot: Like a sir



Fictional private detective and Agatha Christie's main character, probably inspired of Belgian immigrants in the UK, he always solves intricate criminal affairs with a Belgian phlegm(!)

2) Anthony Van Dyck: The creator



Famous 17th-century Flemish Baroque painter, he also invented an eponymous type of beard-stach, which you can see on all of his self-portraits.

3) Bert Kruismans: The caustic bilingual

 

Flemish stand-up comedian, also popular on tv-channels of the whole country, he has performed in both national languages and loves to describe the splendid weirdnesses of Belgium

4) Grand/Lange Jojo: The singing grandpa



Funny old-fashioned singer from Brussels, he is often considered as a symbol of Belgian identity and he is famous for popular tracks like the drinking song "On a soif" (We are thirsty).

5) Balthasar Boma: Mr Tournée Générale



Fictive character from popular Flemish sitcom F.C. De Kampioenen, telling the story of a local football club, he is that old fashioned company owner who has the worst pick-up lines and keeps mixing French and Dutch all the time: one of his catch phrases is "Tournée générale!", meaning "It's my round!".

6) Thomson & Thompson: The slapstick policemen



The clumsy police twins are part of the comic book Tintin, and until the 80s, the stach was a popular trend among policemen in Belgium (didn't it even use to be part of the uniform?), which is not the case anymore, unfortunately for those who have this as a fantasy!

7) Olivier Deleuze: The green stach



Co-president of ECOLO, a francophone green party, and also the first mayor from this party in the Brussels region, he is from the multicultural commune of St-Josse-ten-Noode.

8) Bent van Looy: The indie boy



Lead singer of Das Pop and drummer of Soulwax, the thirty-something has also designed his own clothing and is now jury in the Flemish version of The Voice.

Any other idea? Send it in a comment!