Roman/Red (Dutch: Rooms/rood) is the nickname for a period in Dutch politics between approximately 1945 and 1958. This period was characterized by coalitions between the Catholic and social-democratic parties in the Netherlands and Belgium. "Roman" refers to the parties with Roman Catholic affiliation, and "red" refers to the colour associated with social democrats. During the Roman/Red period, the Catholic People's Party (KVP) and the social-democratic Labour Party (PvdA) formed the core of several 'Roman/Red' cabinets, led primarily by Willem Drees.[1]
After the Catholic KVP merged with two Protestant parties to form the non-denominational Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) in 1980, the term has been used less frequently in Dutch politics. In Belgian politics, the term is still used to describe cabinets made up out of the predominantly Catholic Christian Democratic & Flemish party (CD&V) and Humanist Democratic Centre (cdH) and the social-democratic Socialist Party Different (SP.A) and Socialist Party (PS).[2]
The German equivalent is the Grand coalition.