German flag & other flags of Germany

By Rachel DeloughryPublished on Apr 8, 2025

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Like any other country around the world, Germany has its own national flag. You probably recognise the horizontal tricolour of black, red and gold that makes up the German flag, but how much do you know about its history?

The German flag

The national German flag is a tricolour of three horizontal bands of black, red and gold.

German flag colours

Article 22 of the German constitution, the Basic Law, states that “the federal flag shall be black, red and gold”. When it was adopted in 1949, there were no exact colour specifications, but in 1999 the federal cabinet introduced a corporate design for the German government, defining the exact specifications of the colours, which are called jet black, traffic red and rapeseed yellow.

The colours black, red and gold have long been associated with Germany, but as the potted history below explains, it’s not clear exactly how they came to be adopted as the country’s national colours.

German flags: A history

The history of the German flag can essentially be summarised as the struggle between two different colour schemes: black, red and gold, and black, red and white.

As far back as the Holy Roman Empire (a medieval polity that covered most of the territories that now make up modern-day Germany), both of these colour schemes were in use. The Holy Roman Empire did not have a national flag, but its imperial banner featured a black eagle on a golden background; by the 14th century the eagle also had a red beak and red claws.

Red and white were also significant colours in the medieval period. The Holy Roman Empire fought in the crusades under a war flag that bore a white cross over a red background. Red and white were also the colours of the Hanseatic League, an organisation founded by northern German towns to protect their trading interests. Former Hanseatic cities like Bremen and Hamburg still use the colours red and white in their flags and coats of arms nowadays.

The red, black and gold of the revolutionaries

In 1806, Napoleon forced the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, and huge swathes of Europe, including hundreds of German-speaking states, became French occupied territories. Under French administration, a nationalist movement arose that wanted to free itself from foreign rule and create a unified Germany.

One of the organisations that was particularly active in this cause was the Lützow Volunteer Corps, whose members wore black uniforms with red piping and gold buttons. Some claim this as the origin of the red, black and gold German flag, as these colours were subsequently adopted by many other groups, most notably the Jena Students’ Association on their flag.

However, the German government writes that these colours became especially prevalent in part because of the erroneous belief that they were the colours of the old German Empire, and therefore met a nationalistic movement’s desire for a symbol legitimised by its (faux) historical status.

Indeed, by 1832 the colours were everywhere, as thousands of students marched under black-red-gold tricolours at a mass rally in Hambach. In 1848, the Frankfurt Federal Diet and the German National Assembly declared black, red and gold as the colours of the German Confederation, an association of 39 predominately German-speaking states in Central Europe.

The black, white and red of the North German Confederation

Following Austria’s defeat at the hands of the Kingdom of Prussia and its north German allies in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the German Confederation was dissolved and replaced by the North German Confederation, a national state that excluded Austria and instead consisted of Prussia and 21 other north German states.

For its flag, the North German Confederation chose the colours black, white and red. Black and white were the colours of Prussia, while red and white were the Hanseatic colours of three of the Confederation’s most important members: Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck.

When a new German Empire was declared in 1871 it retained these colours. The black, white and red tricolour remained the flag of Germany until the fall of the German Empire in 1918, at the end of World War I.

Weimar Republic flag

When the Weimar Republic was founded in 1919, there was an appetite to form a continuity between the revolutionary movements of the 19th century and the new democratic republic, so the old black, red and gold tricolour was revived as the new national German flag.

Some saw the new flag as yet another symbol of Germany’s humiliation following its defeat in the war. To demonstrate their displeasure, they invented a number of derogatory names for the flag, including the “Schwarz-Rot-Senf” (black-red-mustard), and many monarchists and imperialists continued to use the old black, white and red flag.

National Socialist flag: The Swastika

Capitalising on this sentiment, the National Socialists adopted these imperial colours. When they came to power in 1933, the black-red-gold flag was banned and the black-white-red imperial tricolour was reinstated as the national flag, alongside the flag of the Nazi party. In 1935, the imperial flag was revoked and the Nazi party swastika flag became the sole national flag of Germany.

West Germany flag

Following Germany’s defeat in World War II, the country was divided. When the three western allies met in 1948 to merge their zones of occupation and form the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), they eventually decided to use the old black-red-gold tricolour as the new German state’s flag, to illustrate the continuity from the Weimar Republic.

Flag of East Germany

In East Germany, the congress initially voted in favour of adopting the black-white-red flag, but in 1949 the black-red-gold tricolour was chosen instead. For 10 years between 1949 and 1959, therefore, the two Germanies had identical flags. On October 1, 1959, however, the East German government changed its flag by adding an emblem featuring a hammer, a compass and a wreath of grain ears, to represent factory workers, educators and farmers. This breakaway was interpreted by West Germany as a deliberate attempt to visually divide the two Germanies.

The reunited flag of Germany

Both before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, many East Germans demonstrated their appetite for a united Germany by physically cutting the hammer, compass and wreath coat of arms from their flags. This was later taken as an indication of widespread support for using the plain black-red-gold tricolour as a symbol of a united and democratic Germany and on October 3, 1990, the tricolour was officially adopted as the flag of the reunified Germany.

Modern usage of the German flag

Germany’s Basic Law lays down the individual’s right to display the federal flag, so long as they show proper respect for it as a state symbol. A variant of the flag known as the Federal Institutions Flag (which features the federal eagle) can only be displayed by federal authorities and offices.

There are a number of official so-called “flag flying days” in Germany, upon which - according to a federal decree from 2005 - public buildings must fly the German flag. These days - only two of which are public holidays - are:

January 27 - Commemoration Day for the Victims of National Socialism (half-mast)
May 1 - Labour Day
May 9 - Europe Day
May 23 - Constitution Day (anniversary of the German Basic Law in 1949)
June 17 - Anniversary of the June 17, 1953 uprising
July 20 - Anniversary of the failed 20 July 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler
October 3 - German Unity Day
Second Sunday before Advent - People’s Mourning Day

In some federal states, flags are also flown on the days of elections for the Bundestag and European Parliament.

German state flags

On top of the German national flag, each German state also has its own flag, which you might see displayed on government buildings and at regional events.

Flag of Bavaria

The state of Bavaria uses two official flags, both bearing the same colours of white and blue: a striped flag of white on top of blue, and a white and blue lozenges flag without arms. They can be used by both civilians and the state government. You may also see unofficial variants defaced with the Bavarian coat of arms.

Flag of Bavaria

Flag of Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg has three flag variants, including one civil flag (Landesflagge), a bicolour of black over yellow, and two state flags (Landesdienstflagge) of the same bicolour defaced with the state arms.

Flag of Baden Wuerttemberg

Flag of Berlin

The state flag of Berlin features three stripes of red, white and red emblazoned with a black and red bear rampant. A variation also exists with the same red and white stripes, defaced with the Berlin coat of arms.

Flag of Berlin

Flag of Brandenburg

Brandenburg also uses the colours red and white in a horizontal bicolour, which is defaced with the state’s coat of arms - a white shield bearing a red eagle.

Flag of Brandenburg

Flag of Bremen

The flag of Bremen consists of at least eight horizontal stripes of alternating red and white, checked at the hoist. Thanks to its unique design, it’s known colloquially as the “bacon flag” (Speckflagge). There is a civil version and a state version that is defaced with the coat of arms.

Flag of Hamburg

The city-state of Hamburg has three flags: the civil flag, the state flag and the admiralty flag. The civil flag, which is used most commonly and can be used by anyone, shows a white castle with three towers on a red background. The state flag, which can only be used by the Senate, bears a coat of arms, while the admiralty flag, which is used only by state buildings connected to Hamburg’s Water Constabulary, portrays the admiralty coat of arms.

Flag of Hesse

Hesse has a simple civil flag: a bicolour of red over white. Its state flag is the same, only emblazoned with the state coat of arms.

Flag of Lower Saxony

Lower Saxony uses the black-red-gold tricolour of the Federal Republic of Germany, emblazoned with the state coat of arms, which features a rearing white horse.

Flag of Lower Saxony

Flag of North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia has a civil flag that is a horizontal tricolour of green, white and red. The state flag has the addition of the coat of arms.

Flag of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern also has two flag variants, both featuring the same five horizontal stripes of blue, white, yellow, white and red. The state variant features two charges from the state’s coat of arms: the black head of a bull wearing a yellow crown, and a red griffin with a yellow beak and yellow claws.

Flag of Rhineland-Palatinate

Like Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate also uses the black-red-gold tricolour of Germany for its state flag. The only difference is the upper left corner, which bears the coat of arms of the state.

Flag of Saarland

The flag of Saarland is very similar, also using the black-red-gold tricolour, but with the coat of arms of Saarland in the centre.

Flag of Saxony

Saxony uses two flag variants: the civil flag is a bicolour of white over green, while the state flag is the same design defaced by the coat of arms of Saxony.

Flag of Saxony-Anhalt

The flag of Saxony-Anhalt is a bicolour of yellow over black, with the state coat of arms in the centre, featuring a green crancelin, a black eagle, and a black bear.

Flag of Schleswig-Holstein

The flag of Schleswig-Holstein is a horizontal tricolour of blue, white and red. There is also a state variant of the flag bearing the state’s coat of arms.

Flag of Thuringia

Thuringia uses a bicolour of white over red for both its civil and state flag. Some state flags feature the addition of the state’s coat of arms. It is the reverse of the flag of Hesse and has a coincidental similarity to the flag of Poland.

German city flags

Most German cities also have their own flag. The flags of Berlin, Bremen and Hamburg can be seen above. Here are some other flags for some major cities in Germany:

Flag of Cologne

The flag of the city of Cologne is a horizontal bicolour of red over white, featuring the city’s coat of arms: a shield with 11 ermine tails and three crowns.