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Mistakenly reported flag, non-existent (Hamburg, Germany)

Landesfarben

Mistakenly reported flag, non-existent

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Mistakenly reported flag, non-existent

Hamburg is my home town. The flag shown below (de_ham12.gif) does not exist. The Landesfarben section of Hamburg's constitution just states that the official colours used in Hamburg are white and red. This does not imply a flag showing white over red as indicated. (...) This is very similar to Bremen (...) where the colours are [also] white and red but they never use them as a flag.

Niels Rump, 18 April 2001

See my explanation of the Landesfarben. There is simply no Hamburg striped flag of white and red, and as far as I know, there has never been one. This is difficult to prove, though, as it is always difficult to prove the non-existence of anything. There are books that show the Landesfarben, as if these were horizontal bicolours, e.g. Neubecker 1929. However, neither are there photos known to me that show these flags nor are there legal texts prescribing this flag nor is there any need for this flag, as there is already a well-known and accepted civil flag and civil ensign, the white castle on red.

Marcus Schmöger, 24 September 2001

There is a reference about these Landesfarben having been adopted in 1834.

Santiago Dotor, 4 October 2001

The Flag Resolution of 1834 says, "(...) die Hamb. Flaggen auf diese Weise gestaltet seyen und namenthlich die Grundfarbe roth, das Wappen weiß seyn müsse.", that is, "(...) the Hamb. flags are to be designed in this way and particularly the field colour shall be red, the arms white." So you see, that this text mainly stresses, that the field should be red and the arms white. (There had been other, erroneous, colours for the basic flag design: white with red castle or blue with white castle, see also Gaedechens 1855.) There is no mention of Landesfarben.

Marcus Schmöger, 4 October 2001

by Jorge Candeias