Admiral of Flanders (1383–1483) and Admiral of the Netherlands (1485–1573) was a title in the medieval Low Countries for the commander of the war fleet. The title of admiral (from the Arab emir-al-bahr), for naval commanders of ships which protected commercial convoys against piracy, already existed temporary in the different parts of the Low Countries before, but was first made permanent in Flanders by Louis II of Flanders in 1383. When the Burgundians gained control of the Low Countries, they also created a permanent position of admiral for the rest of the Burgundian Netherlands in 1446.