When was the modern German flag designed?
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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.
Flag of Germany
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With the formation of the short-lived Weimar Republic after World War I, the tricolour was adopted as the national flag of Germany. Sixteen years later following World War II, the tricolour was again designated as the flag of both West and East Germany divided states in 1949. The two flags were identical until 1959, when the East German flag was augmented with the coat of arms of East Germany. Since reunification on 3 October 1990, the black-red-gold tricolour has become the flag of a reunified Federal Republic of Germany.
Flag of Germany
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While the use of black-red-gold had been suggested in the Soviet zone in 1946, the Second People's Congress in 1948 decided to adopt the old black-white-red tricolour as a national flag for East Germany. This choice was based on the use of these colours by the National Committee for a Free Germany, a German anti-Nazi organisation that operated in the Soviet Union in the last two years of the war. In 1949, following a suggestion from Friedrich Ebert, Jr., the black-red-gold tricolour was instead selected as the flag of the German Democratic Republic upon the formation of this state on 7 October 1949. From 1949 to 1959, the flags of both West and East Germany were identical. On 1 October 1959, the East German government changed its flag with the addition of its coat of arms. In West Germany, these changes were seen as a deliberate attempt to divide the two Germanys. Displaying this flag in West Germany and West Berlin—where it became known as the (divider-flag)—was seen as a breach of the constitution and subsequently banned until the late 1960s.
Flag of Germany
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While there were other suggestions for the new flag for West Germany, the final choice was between two designs, both using black-red-gold. The Social Democrats proposed the re-introduction of the old Weimar flag, while the conservative parties such as the CDU/CSU and the German Party proposed a suggestion by Ernst Wirmer, a member of the (parliamentary council) and future advisor of chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Wirmer suggested a variant of the 1944 "Resistance" flag (using the black-red-gold scheme in a Nordic Cross pattern) designed by his brother and 20 July co-conspirator Josef. The tricolour was ultimately selected, largely to illustrate the continuity between the Weimar Republic and this new German state. With the enactment of the (West) German constitution on 23 May 1949, the black-red-gold tricolour was readopted as the flag for the Federal Republic of Germany.
Flag of Germany
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While there were other suggestions for the new flag for West Germany, the final choice was between two designs, both using black-red-gold. The Social Democrats proposed the re-introduction of the old Weimar flag, while the conservative parties such as the CDU/CSU and the German Party proposed a suggestion by Ernst Wirmer, a member of the (parliamentary council) and future advisor of chancellor Konrad Adenauer. Wirmer suggested a variant of the 1944 "Resistance" flag (using the black-red-gold scheme in a Nordic Cross pattern) designed by his brother and 20 July co-conspirator Josef. The tricolour was ultimately selected, largely to illustrate the continuity between the Weimar Republic and this new German state. With the enactment of the (West) German constitution on 23 May 1949, the black-red-gold tricolour was adopted as the flag for the Federal Republic of Germany.
Flag of East Germany
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Following the declaration of the German republic in 1918 and the ensuing revolutionary period, the so-called Weimar Republic was founded in August 1919. To form a continuity between the anti-autocratic movement of the 19th century and the new democratic republic, the old black-red-gold tricolour was designated as the national German flag in the Weimar Constitution in 1919. Only the tiny German principalities of Reuss-Greiz - where the use and layout of the "schwarz-rot-gold" design had originated some 140 years earlier - Reuss-Gera, and Waldeck-Pyrmont and its republican successor had upheld the 1778-established tradition, and had always continued to use the German colours of black, red, and or (gold) in their flag. As a civil ensign, the black-white-red tricolour was retained, albeit with the new tricolour in the top left corner.
This change was not welcomed by many people in Germany, who saw this new flag as a symbol of humiliation following Germany's defeat in the First World War. In the , the old colours continued to be used in various forms. Many conservatives wanted the old colours to return, while monarchists and the far right were far more vocal with their objections, referring to the new flag with various derogatory names ("see Colour above"). As a compromise, the old black-white-red flag was reintroduced in 1922 to represent German diplomatic missions abroad.
Flag of Germany
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Red, white, and black were the colors of the German Empire from 1870 to 1918, and as such they came to be associated with German nationalism. In the 1920s they were adopted as the colors of the Nazi flag. In "Mein Kampf", Hitler explained that they were "revered colors expressive of our homage to the glorious past." The red part of the flag was also chosen to attract attention – Hitler wrote: "the new flag ... should prove effective as a large poster" because "in hundreds of thousands of cases a really striking emblem may be the first cause of awakening interest in a movement." The red also symbolized the social program of the Nazis, aimed at German workers. Several designs by a number of different authors were considered, but the one adopted in the end was Hitler's personal design.
Red
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After the war, when the West German Herrenchiemsee convention worked out a new constitution in 1948, Wirmer's flag design was again discussed. Though initially backed by Christian Democrats and German Party delegates, it was ultimately rejected in favor of a former black, red and gold tricolour. In the 1950s, the Christian Democratic Union as well as the Free Democratic Party temporarily adopted the Cross flag as party banners.
Josef Wirmer
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The gold-red-black flag of the Jena featured prominently at this Wartburg festival. Therefore, the colours black, red, and gold eventually became symbolic of this desire for a unified German state. Austria, in its determination to maintain the status quo, enacted the Carlsbad Decrees of 1819 that banned all student organisations, officially putting an end to the .
In May 1832, around 30,000 people demonstrated at the Hambach Festival for freedom, unity, and civil rights. The colours black, red, and gold had become a well established symbol for the liberal, democratic and republican movement within the German states since the Wartburg Festival, and flags in these colours were flown en masse at the Hambach Festival. While contemporary illustrations showed prominent use of a gold-red-black tricolour (an upside-down version of the modern German flag), surviving flags from the event were in black-red-gold. Such an example is the , the flag flown from Hambach Castle during the festival: a black-red-gold tricolour where the red band contains the inscription (Germany's rebirth). This flag is now on permanent display at the castle.
Flag of Germany
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The national team's home kit has always been a white shirt, black shorts, and white socks. The colours are derived from the 19th-century flag of the North German State of Prussia. Since 1988, many of the home kit's designs incorporate details patterned after the modern German flag (with the noted exception of the 2002 World Cup kit, which was a reversion to the pure black-and-white scheme). For the 2014 World Cup, the German team used white shorts rather than the traditional black due to FIFA's kit clashing rule for the tournament. The away shirt colour has changed several times. Historically, green shirt with white shorts is the most often used alternative colour combination, derived from the DFB colours – though it is often erroneously reported that the choice is in recognition of the fact that Ireland, whose home shirts are green, were the first nation to play Germany in a friendly game after World War II. However, the first team to play Germany after WWII, as stated above, was actually Switzerland. Other colours such as red, grey and black have also been used.
Germany national football team
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The design of the Nazi flag was introduced by Hitler as the party flag in mid-1920, roughly a year before (29 July 1921) he became his political party's leader: a flag with a red background, a white disk and a black swastika "(Hakenkreuz)" in the middle. In "Mein Kampf", Hitler explained the process by which the Nazi flag design was created: It was necessary to use the same colours as Imperial Germany, because in Hitler's opinion they were "revered colours expressive of our homage to the glorious past and which once brought so much honour to the German nation." The most important requirement was that "the new flag ... should prove effective as a large poster" because "in hundreds of thousands of cases a really striking emblem may be the first cause of awakening interest in a movement." Nazi propaganda clarified the symbolism of the flag: the red colour stood for the social, white for the movement's national thinking and the swastika for the victory of the Aryan peoples over Jewry. Several designs by a number of different authors were considered, but the one adopted in the end was Hitler's personal design. Albert Speer stated in his memoirs that "in only two other designs did he (Adolf Hitler) execute the same care as he did his Obersalzberg house: that of the Reich War Flag and his own standard of Chief of State".
Flag of Germany
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The modern Faroese flag was devised in 1919 by Jens Oliver Lisberg and others while they were studying in Copenhagen. The first time Merkið was raised in the Faroe Islands was on 22 June that year in Fámjin on the occasion of a wedding. On 25 April, 1940, the British occupation government approved the flag for use by Faroese vessels, during the tenure of Carl Aage Hilbert as Danish prefect. Britain did not want the same flag as German-occupied Denmark to be used. April 25 is still celebrated as Flaggdagur and it is a national holiday. With the Home Rule Act of 23 March, 1948, the flag was recognized by the Danish Government as the national flag of the Faroes. The original flag is displayed in the church of Fámjin in Suðuroy.
Flag of the Faroe Islands
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After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, many East Germans cut the coat of arms out of their flags, as Hungarians had done in 1956 and as Romanians would soon do during the fall of Ceaușescu. The widespread act of removing the coat of arms from the East German flag implied the plain black-red-gold tricolour as symbol for a united and democratic Germany. Finally, on 3 October 1990, as the area of the German Democratic Republic was absorbed into the Federal Republic of Germany, the black-red-gold tricolour became the flag of a reunified Germany. In 1998, the Foundation for the Reappraisal of the SED Dictatorship was formed. The duty of this organisation, directly responsible to the federal government, is to examine the consequences of the former East German regime. As its logo, the foundation used an East German flag with the Communist coat of arms cut out.
Flag of Germany
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The flag of Germany or German flag () is a tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the national colours of Germany: black, red, and gold (). The flag was first adopted as the national flag of modern Germany in 1919, during the short-lived Weimar Republic, until 1933.
Flag of Germany