Unidentified flags (Germany)

Last modified: 2007-09-01 by jarig bakker
Keywords: ufe | uhlan |
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• German tank flag
• flag used on military vehicles
• old German flag
• Uhlan-flag
• Prussian cuirasser NCO lance pennant
• German environment flag from poster
• Thüringen Corps
• Cannabis / Hemp flag
• German military pre-1919 UFE
• Unknown German colonial flag
• Red swallowtail with black eagle

• Germany

German tank flag

Maybe you can help me. I don't know what this is called. This flag was removed from a German Tank in Holland during WW11.
Any info you might have would be gratefully appreciated.
Mary Oldring, 11 Oct 2002

I believe that the yellow flag with a blue cross found on a German tank is Swedish. Soldiers from Sweden was fighting on both sides in WW2, so the crew on that tank propebly was from Sweden. I have seen that flag as an alternative flag in Sweden before.
Ted Nordin, 24 Aug 2007

flag used on military vehicles

Attached you can find a flag that my wife asked me about (her rough sketch, so the proportions might be off). One of her colleagues brought it to work, thinking it was a Danish flag (I'm Norwegian with Danish mother. I'm currently living in the US).
I know it's a flag from the Third Reich, and that it was used on military vehicles and must come from the iron cross. Was this something that was scrapped when they adapted to new regulations in 1935? I was not able to find it anywhere on your web page, and was wondering if you had more information about it. The flag seems to be handmade, and my guess is that it's probably a souvenir brought back by an American soldier. (it was found after they cleaned out a house where her old aunt used to live).
Geir Stenshagen, 20 Aug 2004

I seem to recall that it was an identification flag to be placed over panzer tanks for identification from the air, so that they weren't targetted by 'friendly fire'.
James Dignan, 21 Aug 2004

old German flag

I have a particular flag (3`x5`) that was given to me by a friend in the military who served in Germany, where he bought the flag. Neither he nor I know what it is but upon researching the FOTW site we have found that the black, white, red was the old German flag and the flag perhaps could be a reference to old Germany. The flag has a cross on it. I have recreated the flag, and enclosed in the email an image of it. I would be grateful of any help.
Michael Skowitz, 13 Feb 2003

It might be a proposal for a warflag of the North German Federation (Norddeutscher Bund) drawn by prince Adalbert. You can see five similar examples on p.65 of source but not this one.
source: Jörg-M. Hormann; Dominik Plaschke: "Deutsche Flaggen Geschichte, Tradition, Verwendung", Bielefeld/Hamburg 2006; ISBN 3-89255-555-5
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 June 2007

Uhlan-flag

This is an original rare Prussian Royal Uhlan Flag as spotted on Ebay. There is written:
Original rare Prussian Royal Uhlan Flag (Unteroffiziersfahne) from 1917, the motiv on the flag shows the royal Eagle.
Soldiers on horseback from the Royal Uhlan Regiment (2nd Hannover) already carried this banner in the  time period from 1871 - 1920. The condition of the Uhlan-flag is very good, size approx. 70 x 35 cm with four fixing-eyes on the flag.
Bill Garrison, 24 Mar 2003

Prussian cuirasser NCO lance pennant

Looking for lance pennants (Polish vs. US cavalry) I found this website: "The Kürassier NCO's lance pennant is made from white linen with a printed Preußen [Prussian] Eagle. Enlisted lance pennants were made in the state colors. Only NCO pennants utilized the state Wappen [arms].
Bill Garrison, 24 Mar 2003

German environment flag from poster

I found this flag on a poster in the German consulate of Guangzhou/PR China. I only know, that it was about a competition about environment.
J. Patrick Fischer, 29 Apr 2003

Thüringen Corps

I have been in Heidelberg Germany for over 15 years and just last week I saw a flag like the one attached. I thought it was the old Northern German Empire Flag but then it's just the same as the Kamchatka Territory (Russia) upside-down. It was displayed on a flagpole projecting from the building (ratio 3:2) and also banner style from a freestanding pole (ratio 5:2). The building had the sign: Thüringen Corps. I still am trying to find out what that is or who they are. It doesn't seem to be a new organization. What do you know?
David C Curran, 16 Jun 2003

There is most probably a totally different solution, and the four-coloured flag (yellow-red-black-yellow) was the one that pointed to that for me. These are flags of Burschenschaften/Studentenverbindungen (students' associations). As Heidelberg is an important university town, there are also a lot of these Burschenschaften around. Each of these have their colour combinations (two, three or four colours), including rare colours such as pink in many cases. These colour combinations are
displayed as sashes mainly, but also as striped flags on the buildings belonging to the Burschenschaft. The Burschenschaften had been playing an important role in German history (and the German flag's history) around 200 years ago. Nowadays they are basically small, unsignificant groups with (mostly) right-conservative, in some cases even right-radical, political opinion. There had been several scandals here in Munich and the rest of Bavaria with NPD members being also member of one of the Burschenschaften. Although most of them are just conservative and not radical, the distinction is not always easy.

The Studentenverbindung in this case is the "Corps Thuringia" (names are traditionally latinized, i.e. not "Thüringen" but "Thuringia"). see this website. On the website you see their coat-of-arms, that displays the colours black-red-white (bendwise) in one quarter, as well as in a pennant.
Marcus E.V. Schmöger, 16 Jun 2003

Flag on a painting

This could be the Naval Reserve Ensign (flown by merchant vessels commanded by Naval Reserve officers). It was a horizontal black-white-red tricolour with an Iron Cross at the hoist.
Miles Li, 19 Jun 2003

Cannabis / Hemp flag

In yesterday's newspaper (Süddeutsche Zeitung 1 Sep 2003, p. 39) there was a photo of a demonstration here in Munich (mainly organised by the Green party and its youth organization), pleading for the legalization of Cannabis / Hemp. The photo showed an interesting flag: on a field of interwoven green hemp leaves on white, a red disk with a bigger green hemp leave. Anybody knows this flag (inscription is "hemp", so I guess it might have appeared in some English-speaking countries).
Marcus Schmöger, 2 Sep 2003

German military pre-1919 UFE

I've attached a JPEG of a flag that I believe to be from the German military pre-1919. I was wondering if anyone there recognizes this flag and/or its history. Besides the cover of a predominant yellow field with a Black Cross with a circle in the middle and a hard to see design there is a black E in the upper right hand corner. Marked underneath the flag is 2.A.E.K.
Shawn Tabor, 3 Dec 2003

I have the original file (60 kB), if you want to try to see the "hard to see design". I am afraid on my laptop I cannot make out much of the design - perhaps a sheaf of wheat???
Rob Raeside, 4 Dec 2003

Unknown German colonial flag

At first it would be useful to know, whether a photo or a painting would be the primary source. If it's a painting, it might show a fantasy flag created by the artist, who is granted his special freedom.
Though having problems with the resolution, I think that I have recognized the following elements: black centred cross, red canton with 5 white stars, in the centre within a black edged roundel the base of the badge of Togo (palm tree with two snakes).
According to Hormann/Plaschke and Schurdel the German colonial flags were just a bit more than proposals made by Dr. Wilhelm Solf (1862-1936) together with Johann Albrecht Duke of Mecklenburg (1857-1920). As Germany lost WWI it also lost its protectorates and the colonial flags had nearly no chance of ever being hoisted. The colonial flags however were black over white over red tricolours with the base of badges in the middle of the white stripe.
An (official) flag like that being depicted here seemed to have never existed.
According to both sources from above the depicted flag without the roundel was the flag of the German East Africa Company, according to Hormann/PLASCHKE also called "Petersflagge". These authors also claim, that there existed a German colonial movement after WWI targeting the regain of German protectorates. So that flag may be a propaganda flag of a section of this movement. If there were 4-point stars within the canton, the flag could be dated between 1933 and 1945. The NSDAP ordered 4-point stars for some reasons I don't know. I believe however that the image shows an example with 5-point stars.
source:
Jörg-M. Hormann; Dominik Plaschke: "Deutsche Flaggen Geschichte, Tradition, Verwendung", Bielefeld/Hamburg 2006; ISBN 3-89255-555-5
Harry D. Schurdel: "Flaggen & Wappen Deutschland", Augsburg 1995; ISBN 3-89441-136-8; p.225ff.
Hormann /Plaschke also depict a coloured version of badge of Togo (white background, green elements). The description of the chiefs on p.87 however doesn't match the images on p.85. So this information might be doubtful.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 12 June 2007

Red swallowtail with black eagle

A friend of mine just came back from a trip to Germany, and brought a couple of small handwaves back with him for my collection.
One of them has me puzzled. it may well be simply a mock "pseudo-flag" rather than being a replica of a real flag, but I thought I'd run it past the experts :). It's a red swallowtail with a very German-looking black eagle in the centre (imagine a Scandinavian-style state flag for German Albania, and you'll get the idea!).
James Dignan, 6 Nov 2005

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