SOESTERBERG, NETHERLANDS—The first American flag to arrive at Utah Beach on D-Day in 1944, and auctioned by Heritage Auctions in June 2016, will arrive at the Dutch National Military Museum September 15.

The flag was purchased in spirited bidding for $514,000 by Bert Kreuk, a Dutch art collector who lives in Switzerland and New York. A long-time collector of Contemporary and Impressionist art, Kreuk purchased the flag for personal reasons: “This is one of the most important historical American Flags ever to come to auction; a symbol of our freedom. And with our freedom I mean that of Europe in particular,” he said.

The flag will arrive by Chinook helicopter at the National Military Museum on the runway of the former air base in Soesterberg. It will be marched along an honor guard of American and Dutch soldiers and will then be handed over by the defense minister, in the presence of the Kreuk family, to the director of the National Military Museum, Hedwig Saam. The museum will exhibit the flag in a special way, focusing on the D-Day invasion in Normandy and the symbolism of the American flag. The exhibition will run until the end of this year.

The 48-star flag was flown on the stern of the US Navy ship LCC 60, the leading vessel on June 6, 1944, responsible for directing the invasion fleet and the first American troops to Utah Beach.

For the Kreuk family, the flag is a symbol of the sacrifices made by the Allied soldiers for the freedom of Europe. Kreuk believes this freedom can never be taken for granted — not then, and not now.

The flag is on long-term loan to the National Military Museum which is at Verlengde Paltzerweg 1.