SUBMITTED BY

Anshul Garg
B-34
MBA 2009-11
 Submitted by
Karan Sabharwal
B-56
MBA 2009-11
Submitted by
Sneha Joshi
B-18
MBA 2009-11
GERMAN FLAG

The flag of Germany is a tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying
the national colours of Germany: black, red and gold.

The black-red-gold tricolour first appeared in the early 19th century and achieved
prominence during the 1848 revolution. The short-lived Frankfurt Parliament of 1848–
1850 proposed the tricolour as a flag for a united and democratic German state. With the
formation of the Weimar Republic after World War I, the tricolour was adopted as the
national flag of Germany. Following World War II, the tricolour was designated as the
flag of both West and East Germany. 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 remained the flag of
Germany.

The flag of Germany has not always used black, red and gold as its colours. After the
Austro–Prussian War in 1866, the Prussian-dominated North German Confederation
adopted a tricolour of black-white-red as its flag. This flag later became the flag of the
German Empire, formed following the unification of Germany in 1871, and was used
until 1918. Black, white and red were reintroduced as the German national colours with
the establishment of Nazi Germany in 1933.

The colour schemes of black-red-gold and black-white-red have played an important role
in the history of Germany and have had various meanings. The colours of the modern
flag are associated with the republican democracy formed after World War II, and
represent German unity and freedom: not only the freedom of Germany, but also the
personal freedom of the German people.
ORIGIN

The origins of the colours black-red-gold are lying in the freedom wars of 1813 against
Napoleon. The uniforms of the "Luetzowschen Freikorps" reflected these colours. The
Korps consisted of students, which were rising against the occupation of Germany by the
French. They were a voluntary unit in the army and came from all over Germany. Their
commander was Major Adolf von Luetzow. Since they were from different parts of
Germany and were all wearing different coloured clothes, the only possibility for them, in
order to have a uniform appearance, was to colour their clothes black. Additionally they
were wearing golden coloured (brass) buttons as well as red trimmings.

The German relation to black and gold surfaced in the radical 1840's, when the black-red-
gold flag was used to symbolize the movement against the Conservative European Order
that was established after Napoleon's defeat.

The Frankfurt Parliament had declared the black-red-gold as the official colors of the
German Confederation, with the red in the tricolour most likely a referencing the
Hanseatic League and the gold and black symbolizing Austria, as its Empire, considered
to be "German", had an influence over (what would become) southern Germany. There
are many theories in circulation regarding the origins of the colour scheme utilized in the
1848 flag. It has been proposed that the colors were those of the Jena Student's League,
one of the radically-minded Burschenschaften banned by Metternich in the Carlsbad
Decrees. Another claim goes back to the uniforms (mainly black with red facings and
gold buttons) of the Lützow Free Corps, comprised mostly of university students, and
formed during the struggle against the occupying forces of Napoleon. It is during the mid
nineteenth century that red became synonymous with revolution and Karl Marx's socialist
vision. Whatever the true explanation, these colors soon came to be regarded as the
national colors of Germany during this brief period, and especially after their
reintroduction during the Weimar period, they have become synonymous with liberalism
in general.
HISTory

Divided Germany

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,[47] where black-red-gold
were suggested as the colours for a future German republic.[48]

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,[56][57] and as Romanians would
soon do during the fall of Ceauşescu. 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
Reconciliation 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 uses this cut-out version of the
East German flag.[58]

1989 to today

The old black-white-red tricolour of the German Empire is still used by monarchists and
those members of German royalty who long for the peaceful reintroduction of a German
democratic monarchy.[59] This use of the old flag is almost completely overshadowed by
its prevalent use by the far right; since the swastika is illegal in Germany the far right
have been forced to forego any Nazi flags and instead use the old tricolour – which the
Nazis themselves banned in 1935.[32] The ban of Nazi symbols in Germany and some
countries is the main reason why many computer games related to World War II do not
feature the Nazi flag, sometimes replacing it with the anachronistic flag of pre-1918
Germany, or the modern tricolour. The utilisation of the old imperial tricolour by the far
right and its attempts to associate the tricolour with its antidemocratic and xenophobic
ideals are strongly objected to by the modern German population.[59]

In Germany, the use of the flag and other national symbols has been relatively low for
most of the time since the Second World War – a reaction against the widespread use of
flags by the Nazi Party, and against the nationalistic furor of the Nazis in general.[60] The
flag is used primarily by official authorities on special occasions or by citizens during
international sporting events. In some states (e.g. Bavaria, Schleswig-Holstein) or sub-
state historical regions (e.g. Baden, Franconia) residents may prefer the use of regional
flags instead of the national flag.
During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, which took place in Germany, public use of the
national flag increased dramatically.[61] Although this explosion in the flag's popularity
was initially greeted by many Germans with a mixture of surprise and apprehension,[62]
the decades-old fear that German flag-waving and national pride was inextricably
associated with its Nazi past was dismissed by the end of the tournament by Germans and
non-Germans alike

FLAG VARIANTS

Civil flag

The German national flag or Bundesflagge (federal flag), containing only the black-red-
gold tricolour, was introduced as part of the (West) German constitution in 1949.[3]
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 – for example,
the authorities of the German states use the German national flag together with their own
flag

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 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: the Bundesschild is displayed in the centre of the flag,
overlapping with up to one fifth of the black and gold bands.[6] 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 mas

FLAG DAYS

Date Name Reason

 Commemoration Day for the
Victims of National Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz
Socialism concentration camp, observed by the United
27 January
Tag des Gedenkens an die Nations as International Holocaust
Opfer des Remembrance Day (half-mast)
Nationalsozialismus
Was established for the German labour
International Workers' Day
1 May unions to demonstrate for the promotion of
Tag der Arbeit
workers' welfare.
Europe day Anniversary of the Schuman Declaration,
9 May
Europatag leading to the European Union (1950)
Anniversary of the German constitution
23 May Constitution Day
(1949)
Anniversary of the Uprising of 1953 in East
17 June Jahrestag des 17. Juni 1953
Germany
Anniversary of the July 20 plot, the failed
20 July Jahrestag des 20. Juli 1944 assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler by
Claus von Stauffenberg (1944)
German Unity Day
3 October Anniversary of German reunification (1990)
Tag der Deutschen Einheit
Two Sundays
National day of mourning In memory of all killed during wartime (half-
before the first
Volkstrauertag mast)
Advent