Flag of East Germany

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For the flag of the modern German state, see Flag of Germany.
German Democratic Republic
tricolour of black, red, and gold, adorned with the National emblem of East Germany
.

Like the flags of the

present-day Germany, the flag of East Germany, the German Democratic Republic, showed the colours black, red and gold. The coat of arms
, which, from 1959, was a hammer, compass and wreath of wheat, was located in the middle of the colour red.

It was the official national flag of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during its existence from 1959 to 1990. The flag's design and symbolism are derived from the flag of the Weimar Republic and communist symbolism. The flag was outlawed as an unconstitutional and criminal symbol in West Germany and West Berlin, where it was referred to as the Spalterflagge ('secessionist flag') until the late 1960s.

Symbolism and design

With relations deteriorating between the Soviet Union and the United States, the three western Allies met in March 1948 to merge their zones of occupation and allow the formation of what became the Federal Republic of Germany, commonly known as West Germany. Meanwhile, the eastern Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic, commonly known as East Germany. During the preparation of the new constitution for West Germany, discussions regarding its national symbols took place in August 1948 during a meeting at Herrenchiemsee. Although there were objections to the creation of a national flag before reunification with the east, it was decided to proceed. This decision was primarily motivated by the proposed constitution by the eastern SED in November 1946,[1] where black-red-gold were suggested as the colours for a future German republic.[2]

1944 "Resistance" flag proposal
Flag of the French Saar Protectorate, 1947–1956
Flag of the German state of Saarland within West Germany from 1957

While there were other suggestions for the new flag for West Germany,

20 July co-conspirator Josef.[4] 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.

In 1955, the inhabitants of the French-administered Saar Protectorate voted to join West Germany.[5] Since its establishment as a separate French protectorate in 1947, the Saar had a white Nordic cross on a blue and red background as its flag.[6] To demonstrate the commitment of the Saar to be a part of West Germany, a new flag was selected on 9 July 1956: the black-red-gold tricolour defaced with the new coat of arms, also proposed on this day.[7] This flag came into force on 1 January 1957, upon the establishment of the Saarland as a state of West Germany.

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

coat of arms.[10]
In West Germany, these changes were seen as a deliberate attempt to divide the two Germanies. Displaying this flag in West Germany and West Berlin—where it became known as the Spalterflagge (divider-flag)—was seen as a breach of the constitution and subsequently banned until the late 1960s.

Colour scheme Black Red Gold
RAL
 9005
Jet black 		3020
Traffic red 		1021
Rapeseed yellow
HKS 0, 0, 0 5.0PB 3.0/12 6.0R 4.5/14
Pantone Black 485 7405*

Colour scheme: valid for East German flags 1949–1990

The colours video approximation is listed below:[11]

Black
(flag/arms) 		Red
(flag/arms) 		Gold
(flag) 		Gold
(arms)
RGB 0/0/0 221/0/0 255/206/0 255/199/9
Hexadecimal #000000ff #dd0000ff #ffce00ff #ffc709ff
CMYK 0/0/0/100 0/100/100/13 0/19/100/0 0/22/96/0
HSL 0/0/0 0/255/100 34/255/128 33/255/132

From 1956 to 1964, West and East Germany attended the

Olympic rings in the red stripe. In 1968 for both the Winter games in France and the Summer games in Mexico
, the teams from the two German states entered separately, but both used the same German Olympic flag. From 1972 to 1988, the separate West and East German teams used their respective national flags.

Flag of the German Democratic Republic from 1949 to 1959

History

Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Civil ensign of the GDR from 1959 to 1973
United Team of Germany

On the centenary of the Berlin March days in March 1948, the second

Friedrich Ebert
yet again, and the proposal for the black-red-gold flag. His application was approved on 30 May 1949 and put into effect on 7 October 1949 Law on state emblem and flag from 26 September 1949.

Thus, the

farmers, and intelligentsia
.

The public presentation of this officially as a "Soviet zone flag" designated by the FRG flag was, however, viewed by the end of the 1960s as a breach of the

Grand Coalition
), that the police everywhere should take more no action against the use of the flag and coat of arms of the GDR.

Since the situation regarding the recognition of the GDR under international law was complicated as a result of the

Olympic rings in white over the red stripe of the black, red and gold flag. As part of the international recognition of the GDR by the United Nations and the recognition of the sovereignty of the GDR by the FRG, two separate teams with two separate flags took part since the 1972 Winter Olympics
.

With the introduction of the new national flag in 1959 a new

merchant flag was introduced.[13]
Before the GDR led the black-red-gold flag without coat of arms as merchant flag. The new merchant flag to a smaller state emblem is in the upper corner. 1973 this merchant flag was again abolished and replaced by the national flag, the order was National and merchant flag.

In addition to the East German flag, the red flag of the workers' movement was often hoisted at public buildings, at official events and on national holidays. Only on the Brandenburg Gate did two red flags fly to the left and right of the GDR state flag in the middle until the days after the Berlin Wall fell.

After the political

turning point in 1989 in the GDR drew up the working group "New Constitution of the GDR", the Round Table a new constitution [14] and proposed a new national flag. They should continue to be striped black-red-golden, but show instead of the State Emblem the presentation of the motto Swords to ploughshares.[15] The other political events with the reunification
ending existence of the GDR did not let the Constitution and therefore the new flag to take effect.

War and service flags

The flags of the military units of the GDR bore the national coat of arms with a wreath of two olive branches on a red background, on a black, red and gold flag.

The flags of the People's Navy for combat ships and boats carried the coat of arms with an olive branch wreath on a red flag cloth, for auxiliary ships and boats on a blue flag cloth with a narrow black, red and gold band arranged in the middle. The state flag was used in a reduced form as a Gösch.

The ships and boats of the border brigade coast on the Baltic Sea, and the boats of the border troops of the GDR on the Elbe and Oder carried a green bar on the leech, as did the service flag of the border troops.

  • Flag of the National People's Army
  • Flag for combat ships and boats of the Volksmarine
  • Flag for auxiliary ships and boats of the Volksmarine
  • Deutsche Post service flag (1955–1973)
  • Flag for ships and boats of the Coastal Border Brigade
  • Flag of the
    Grenztruppen

Presidential standards

  • Standard of the president of East Germany (1951–1953)
  • Standard of the president of East Germany (1953–1955)
  • Standard of the president of East Germany (1955–1960)
  • Standard of the president of the State Council (1960–1990)

Historical flags

Flag Date Use Description
1949–1959 State flag (Staatsflagge)
1959–1990 State flag (Staatsflagge) 1959–1990
Merchant flag (Handelsflagge) 1973–1990		 Tricolour of black, red, and yellow (same as West German colours), but bears the coat of arms of East Germany, consisting of a compass and a hammer encircled with rye
1959–1973 Merchant flag (Handelsflagge) Used by East German merchant ships prior to its replacement with the East German national flag in 1973
1963–1990 Hanging state flag (Bannerflagge) Both variants with vertical and horizontal bars were used.
1975–1990 Flag of East German Post
1960–1990
Regimental colours
(Truppenfahne) of Nationale Volksarmee		 Ceremonial and parade version of the standard military flag
1989–1990 Defaced state flag Used by supporters of German reunification in East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Gallery

  • National flag of the German Democratic Republic flying
    National flag of the German Democratic Republic flying
  • A GDR flag hanging in the building
    A GDR flag hanging in the building
  • Series of Red and GDR flags during the 1973 World Festival of Youth and Students
    Series of Red and GDR flags during the 1973 World Festival of Youth and Students
  • Three sets of GDR flags
    Three sets of GDR flags
  • GDR flag hanging in Leipzig, 1965
    GDR flag hanging in Leipzig, 1965
  • Flag of the GDR with the FRG at the UN headquarters
    Flag of the GDR with the FRG at the UN headquarters
  • A fan with the GDR flag
    A fan with the GDR flag

See also

References

  1. ISBN 978-3-7610-5115-3
    .
  2. ^ "SED-proposed constitution of the German Democratic Republic". documentArchiv.de (in German). 14 November 1946. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Proposals 1944–1949 (Germany)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  4. ^ Rabbow, Arnold (May–August 1983). "A Flag Against Hitler. The 1944 National Flag Proposal of the German Resistance Movement". Flag Bulletin. 100.
  5. ^ "The Saar referendum". European Navigator. 23 October 1955. Archived from the original on 11 March 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  6. ^ "Constitution of the Saarland". documentArchiv.de. 15 December 1947. Retrieved 24 February 2008. See Article 61. (in German)
  7. ^ (in German) Government of the Saarland (9 July 1956) Gesetz Nr. 508 über die Flagge des Saarlandes and Gesetz Nr. 509 über das Wappen des Saarlandes
  8. ^ "Finding the last emblems of the German Democratic Republic in Berlin". 2017-09-06. Retrieved 2021-04-09.
  9. ^ "Constitution of the German Democratic Republic". documentArchiv.de (in German). 7 October 1949. Retrieved 24 February 2008. See Article 2.
  10. ^ Government of the German Democratic Republic (1 October 1959). "Gesetz zur Änderung des Gesetzes über das Staatswappen und die Staatsflagge der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik". documentArchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 24 February 2008.
  11. ^ Based on colors tone values by Inkscape.
  12. ^ Law amending the Law on the state seal and the state flag of the German Democratic Republic. From 1 October 1959
  13. ^ Regulation on the introduction of a merchant flag of the German Democratic Republic. From 1 October 1959
  14. ^ Draft Constitution of East Germany, Working Group "New Constitution of the GDR", the roundtable, Berlin, April 1990
  15. ^ Article 43, Draft Constitution of East Germany, working group "New Constitution DDR Round Table, Berlin, April 1990

External links

East Germany at Flags of the World

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