historic region. The District of Lippe as successor of the Free State of Lippe in the Governmental District of Detmold is rather considered to be a separate historic region. Symbols Coat of arms Current use The traditional symbol of Westphalia is the Westphalian Steed: a white horse on a red field. It is derived from the Saxon Steed in the coat of arms of the medieval Duchy of Saxony which most of today's Westphalia was part of. In official contexts the coat of arms of Westphalia is being used by the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association, which represents these two historic parts of North Rhine-Westphalia. The coat of arms of North Rhine-Westphalia uses the Westphalian Steed to represent Westphalia as one of its parts alongside the Lippish Rose representing Lippe and the Rhine River representing the Northern Rhineland. Previous use Prussia already used the Westphalian Steed in the coat of arms of its Province of Westphalia. Similar versions The coat of arms of Lower Saxony uses a different version of the Saxon Steed since the state also covers large parts of the Old Saxons' duchy. Flag Current use The colours of Westphalia are white and red. The flag of the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association uses these colours with the Westphalian coat of arms in its centre. The flag of North Rhine-Westphalia is a combination of the Northern Rhineland's colours green/white and the Westphalian white/red. Previous use The flag of the Prussian Province of Westphalia already displayed the colours white and red. Similar versions The flag of Lower Saxony shows the colours of Germany and the Saxon Steed. Anthem Composed in Iserlohn in 1886 by Emil Rittershaus, the Westfalenlied is an unofficial anthem of Westphalia. Identity While the Northern Rhineland, Westphalia and Lippe are different historic territories of today's North Rhine-Westphalia, the old border between the former Rhine Province and the Province of Westphalia is also a language border. While in Westphalia and Lippe, people tend to speak West Low German dialects and especially the Westphalian variant of the Low German language, Central German and Low Franconian dialects are spoken in the Northern Rhineland. These different regional identities are often being emphasized by different majorities of denomination between Roman Catholics and Lutheran Protestants. The different majorities date back to the days of the territorial fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (of the German Nation) which existed until 1806. The Münsterland and the region around