Germany

3×5' nylon national flag of Germany.

Germany's black, red and gold have always been the colors of German democracy. They flew at the Hambach Festival of 1832 and the Frankfurt Parliament of 1848, were outlawed by the Nazis, and returned with the Federal Republic in 1949.

Design

Three equal horizontal bands of black, red and gold.

History & Symbolism

The colors are usually traced to the Lützow Free Corps, volunteers who fought Napoleon in 1813 in black uniforms with red facings and gold buttons. Students and liberals took them up as the colors of a free, united Germany. The Weimar Republic adopted the tricolor in 1919; the Nazi regime replaced it. West Germany restored it on 23 May 1949, East Germany added its own emblem in 1959, and the plain flag became the flag of reunified Germany on 3 October 1990.

Flag Specifications

• Adopted: 1919; restored 23 May 1949
• Official proportions: 3:5
• Colors: black, red, gold

Vexillographer's Note

The third color is officially gold (Gold), not yellow, a distinction Germans take seriously. Germany's 3:5 ratio matches our 3×5' size exactly.

Humphrys Flag Company · Old City Philadelphia · Est. 1864