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| Flagge der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik | |
| Use | National flag andensign  |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 3:5 |
| Adopted | 1 October 1959; 65 years ago (1959-10-01) |
| Relinquished | 3 October 1990; 34 years ago (1990-10-03) (unification) |
| Design | A horizontaltricolour ofblack,red, andgold, adorned with theNational emblem of East Germany. |
The firstflag of East Germany, officially theGerman Democratic Republic, was a tricolour of black, red and gold, identical to the flags of theWeimar Republic,West Germany, andpresent-day Germany. From 1959 until the unification of Germany in 1990, it was charged with thenational emblem, consisting of a hammer and compass inside a wreath of wheat, centered on a red background. The second flag's design and symbolism were derived from the flag of the Weimar Republic andcommunist symbolism. The flag was outlawed as an unconstitutional and criminal symbol inWest Germany andWest Berlin, where it was referred to as theSpalterflagge ('secessionist flag') until the late 1960s.
With relations deteriorating between theSoviet Union and theUnited 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 asWest Germany. Meanwhile, the eastern Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic, commonly known asEast 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[1] tricolour as a national flag for East Germany. This choice was based on the use of these colours by theNational Committee for a Free Germany,[2] a German anti-Nazi organisation that operated in theSoviet Union in the last two years of the war. In 1949, following a suggestion fromFriedrich Ebert Jr., the black-red-gold tricolour was instead selected as the flag of the German Democratic Republic upon the formation of this state on 7 October 1949.[3] From 1949 to 1959, the flags of both West and East Germany were identical. On 1 October 1959, the East German government changed its flag with the addition ofcoat of arms.[4] 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 theSpalterflagge (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:[5]
 .svg)  | 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 theWinter andSummer Olympic Games as a single team, known as theUnited Team of Germany. After the East German national flag was changed in 1959, neither country accepted the flag of the other. As a compromise, a new flag was used by the United Team of Germany from 1960 to 1964, featuring the black-red-gold tricolourdefaced with whiteOlympic rings in the red stripe. In 1968 for both theWinter games in France and theSummer 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.
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Civil ensign of the GDR from 1959 to 1973.svg)
Flag ofUnited Team of GermanyOn the centenary of the Berlin March days in March 1948, the secondPeople's Congress was convened in Berlin, seen as aGerman People's Council on the reorganization of the entire state in addition to the drafting of a constitution creating a national flag for the state of the German Democratic Republic. The choice was between three flags, onered, anotherblack-white-red, and the last optionblack-red-gold. The proposal to introduce the red flag, was quickly discarded. As a sign ofcommunist and the international labor movement this flag was rejected even during theNovember Revolution of 1918 (and beyond) by the bourgeoisie. As in Germany, the decision was made in favor of the black, red and gold flag of theWeimar Republic. TheSoviet Union was initially against this flag, due to it being a symbol of the Weimar Republic, a reminder of an era of weakness, crises, and unemployment. Thus, the black-white-red flag remained, whose usage goes back to theNational Committee for a Free Germany. The committee was established on 12 and 13 June 1943 under Soviet leadership and took the old imperial flag to be seen as signs of the struggle against the fascistNazi regime,Adolf Hitler, and the swastika flag.
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The Third People's Congress 1949, set up by the Soviet occupation in 1948, broughtMayor of East BerlinFriedrich 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, theWest (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) had the same national flag. The East, however, led only in the first ten years of its existence. During this time the FRG competed in color with the identical design of the GDR. On 1 October 1959[6] the GDR added their national emblem, "hammer andcompass surrounded by a garland of corn" in the flag as so as to create a distinction to the flag of the Federal Republic. The emblem was a symbol of the alliance of betweenworkers,farmers, andintelligentsia.
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 theConstitution and disruption of public order in the FRG andWest Berlin and basically prevented by police action. Even when hoisting the flag of the GDR abroad there were stereotyped to West German protests. It was only on 22 July 1969 ordered the federal government (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 theHallstein Doctrine, it started to be in 1968 in sporting contests, such as inOlympic Games, teams with athletes from both parts of Germany. The Olympic Committee of the GDR refused to compete under the flag of the Federal Republic, and the Olympic Committee of Germany took until the very last moment before deciding to carry the black-red-gold flag unchanged. Ultimately an agreement was made to place theOlympic rings in white over the red stripe of the black, red and gold flag. As part of the international recognition of the GDR by theUnited Nations and the recognition of thesovereignty of the GDR by the FRG, two separate teams with two separate flags took part since the1972 Winter Olympics.
With the introduction of the new national flag in 1959 a newmerchant flag was introduced.[7] 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, thered flag of the workers' movement was often hoisted at public buildings, at official events and on national holidays. Only on theBrandenburg Gate did two red flags fly to the left and right of the GDR state flag in the middle until the days after theBerlin Wall fell.
After the politicalturning point in 1989 in the GDR drew up the working group "New Constitution of the GDR", theRound Table a new constitution[8] 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 mottoSwords to ploughshares.[9] The other political events with thereunification ending existence of the GDR did not let the Constitution and therefore the new flag to take effect.
The flags of the military units of the GDR bore the national coat of arms with a wreath of twoolive 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.
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| 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 |
.svg) .svg) | 1963–1990 | Hanging state flag (Bannerflagge) | Both variants with vertical and horizontal bars were used. |
.svg) | 1975–1990 | Flag of East German Post | |
.svg) | 1960–1990 | Regimental colours (Truppenfahne) ofNationale Volksarmee | Ceremonial and parade version of the standard military flag |
 | 1989–1990 | Defaced state flag | Used by supporters ofGerman reunification in East Germany after thefall of the Berlin Wall. |
