The national flag of Germany is a tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the national colours of Germany: black, red, and gold (). The flag was first sighted in 1848 in the German Confederation. The flag was also used by the German Empire from 1848 to 1849. It was officially adopted as the national flag of the German Reich (during the period of the Weimar Republic) from 1919 to 1933, and has been in use since its reintroduction in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949.
Since the mid-19th century, Germany has had two competing traditions of national colours, black-red-gold and black-white-red. Black-red-gold were the colours of the 1848–1849 Revolutions, the Weimar Republic of 1919–1933 and the Federal Republic (since 1949). They were also adopted by the German Democratic Republic (1949–1990).
The colours black-white-red appeared for the first time in 1867 in the constitution of the North German Confederation. This nation state of Prussia and other north and central German States was expanded to the south German states in 1870–71, under the name German Empire. It kept these colours until the revolution of 1918–19. Thereafter, black-white-red became a symbol of the political right. The Nazis (National Socialist German Workers' Party) re-established these colours along with the party's own swastika flag in 1933. After World War II, black-white-red was still used by some conservative groups or by groups of the far right, as it is not forbidden, unlike specific Nazi symbols such as the aforementioned swastika.
Black-red-gold is the official flag of the Federal Republic of Germany. As an official symbol of the constitutional order, it is protected against defamation. According to §90a of the German penal code, the consequences are a fine or imprisonment up to three years.
Origins The German association with the colours black, red, and gold surfaced in the radical 1840s, when the black-red-gold flag was used to symbolise the movement against the Conservative Order, which was established in Europe after Napoleon's defeat.
There are many theories in circulation regarding the origins of the colour scheme used in the 1848 flag. It has been proposed that the colours were those of the Jena Students' League (), one of the radically minded banned by in the Carlsbad Decrees. The colours are mentioned in their canonical order in the seventh verse of August Daniel von Binzer's student song ("On the Dissolution of the Jena Students' League") quoted by in his Academic Festival Overture. Another claim goes back to the uniforms (mainly black with red facings and gold buttons) of the Lützow Free Corps, which were mostly worn by university students and were formed during the struggle against the occupying forces of Napoleon. Whatever the true explanation, those colours soon came to be regarded as the national colours of Germany during that brief period. Especially after their reintroduction during the Weimar period, they became synonymous with liberalism in general. The colours also appear in the medieval .
Flag variants
Civil flag
The German national flag or (), containing only the black-red-gold tricolour, was introduced as part of the (West) German constitution in 1949. Following the creation of separate government and military flags in later years, the plain tricolour is now used as the German civil flag and civil ensign. This flag is also used by non-federal authorities to show their connection to the federal government, e.g. the authorities of the German states use the German national flag together with their own flag.
Government flag
The government flag of Germany is officially known as the (state flag of the federal authorities) or for short. It was introduced in 1950. It is the civil flag defaced with the ("Federal Shield"), which overlaps with up to one fifth of the black and gold bands. The is a variant of the coat of arms of Germany, whose main differences are the illustration of the eagle and the shape of the shield: the is rounded at the base, whereas the standard coat of arms is pointed.
The government flag may only be used by federal government authorities and its use by others is an offence, punishable with a fine. However, public use of flags similar to the (e.g. using the actual coat of arms instead of the ) is tolerated, and such flags are sometimes seen at international sporting events.
Vertical flags
In addition to the normal horizontal format, many public buildings in Germany use vertical flags. Most town halls fly their town flag together with the national flag (and usually the flag of the state they are in and the flag of the European Union) in this way; many town flags in Germany exist only in vertical form. The proportions of these vertical flags are not specified. In 1996, a layout for the vertical version of the government flag was established, that coincidentally matched the pattern of the "conventional" black-red-gold flag of the Principality of Reuss-Gera () from 1806 to 1918: the is displayed in the centre of the flag, overlapping with up to one fifth of the black and gold bands. When hung like a banner or draped, the black band should be on the left, as illustrated. When flown from a vertical flagpole, the black band must face the staff. The only type of vertical flag that can be flown under the Federal Government Decree is a banner. Flags in vertical format, vertical flags with outrigger and hanging flags are not permitted.
Military flags Since the German armed forces () are a federal authority, the is also used as the German war flag on land. In 1956, the (Flag of the German Navy) was introduced: the government flag ending in swallowtail. This naval flag is also used as a navy jack.
Design
Article 22 of the German constitution, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, states:
The federal flag shall be black, red and gold.Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (23 May 1949). German version and English version (December 2000) (PDF). See Article 22. Retrieved on 24 February 2008.
Following specifications set by the West German government in 1950, the flag displays three bars of equal width and has a width–length ratio of 3:5; the tricolour used during the Weimar Republic had a ratio of 2:3.
At the time of the adoption of the flag there were no exact colour specifications other than "Black-Red-Gold". However on 2 June 1999, the federal cabinet introduced a corporate design for the German government which defined the specifications of the official colours as:
Colour schemeBlackRedGold RAL 9005Jet black 3020Traffic red 1023Traffic yellow HKS 0, 0, 0 5.0PB 3.0/12 6.0R 4.5/14 CMYK 0.0.0.100 0.100.100.8 0.19.100.0 Pantone (approximation) N/A 168 7405 Hexadecimal #000000 #D00000 #FFCE00 Decimal RGB 0,0,0 208,0,0 255,206,0
The flag is blazoned in English as, "Tierced in fess sable, gules and or."
Colour Vexillology rarely distinguishes between gold and yellow; in heraldry, they are both Or. For the German flag, such a distinction is made: the colour used in the flag is called gold, not yellow.
When the black–red–gold tricolour was adopted by the Weimar Republic as its flag, it was attacked by conservatives, monarchists, and the far right, who referred to the colours with spiteful nicknames such as (black–red–yellow) or even (black–red–mustard). When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the black–white–red colours of pre-1918 Imperial Germany were swiftly reintroduced, and their propaganda machine continued to discredit the , using the same derogatory terms as previously used by the monarchists.
On 24 December 1951, the Federal Court of Justice () stated that the usage of "black–red–yellow" and the like had "through years of Nazi agitation, attained the significance of a malicious slander against the democratic symbols of the state" and was now an offence. Federal Court of Justice of Germany (16 November 1959). 3 StR 45/59. As summarised by heraldist Arnold Rabbow in 1968, "the German colours are black–red–yellow but they are called black–red–gold."
Flag-flying days There are a number of flag-flying days in Germany. Following federal decree on 22 March 2005, the flag must be flown from public buildings on the following dates. Only 1 May and 3 October are public holidays.
Date Name Reason 27 January Commemoration Day for the Victims of National Socialism Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp (1945), observed by the United Nations as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (half-staff) 1 May Day of Labour Established for German labour unions to demonstrate for the promotion of workers' welfare 9 May Europe Day Anniversary of the Schuman Declaration, leading to the European Union (1950) 23 May Constitution Day Anniversary of the German Basic Law (1949) 17 June Anniversary of 17 June 1953 Anniversary of the East German uprising of 1953 20 July Anniversary of 20 July 1944 Anniversary of the 20 July Plot, the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler by Claus von Stauffenberg (1944) 3 October German Unity Day Anniversary of German reunification (1990) The 2nd Sunday before Advent People's Mourning Day In memory of all killed during wartime (half-staff)
Election days for the Bundestag and the European Parliament are also flag days in some states, in addition to other state-specific flag days. The public display of flags to mark other events, such as the election of the president or the death of a prominent politician (whereupon flags would be at half-staff), can be declared at the discretion of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. When flags are required to be flown at half-staff, vertical flags are not lowered. A black mourning ribbon is instead attached, either atop the staff (if hung from a pole) or to each end of the flag's supporting cross-beams (if flown like a banner).
History Medieval period
The Holy Roman Empire (800/962 – 1806, known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512) did not have a national flag, but black and gold were used as colours of the Holy Roman Emperor and featured in the imperial banner: a black eagle on a golden background. After the late 13th or early 14th century, the claws and beak of the eagle were coloured red. From the early 15th century, a double-headed eagle was used.
The colours red and white were also significant during this period. When the Holy Roman Empire took part in the Crusades, a war flag was flown alongside the black-gold imperial banner. This flag, known as the "Saint George Flag", was a white cross on a red background: the reverse of the St George's Cross used as the flag of England, and similar to the flag of Denmark.
Red and white were also colours of the Hanseatic League (13th–17th century). Hanseatic trading ships were identifiable by their red-white pennants, and most Hanseatic cities adopted red and white as their city colours (see Hanseatic flags). Red and white still feature as the colours of many former Hanseatic cities such as Hamburg or Bremen.
Principality of Reuss-Greiz When Heinrich XI, Prince Reuss of Greiz was appointed by Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor to rule the then-new Principality of Reuss-Greiz on 12 May 1778, the flag adopted by the Fürstentum Reuß-Greiz was the first-ever appearance of the black-red-gold tricolour in its modern arrangement in any sovereign state within what today comprises Germany – the Reuss elder line that ruled the principality used a flag whose proportions were close to a "nearly square"-shape 4:5 hoist/fly ratio, instead of the modern German flag's 3:5 figure.
Napoleonic Wars