Last modified: 2006-09-23 by jarig bakker
Keywords: mecklenburg-vorpommern | oxhead (black) | griffin (red) |
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3:5
| image by Marcus Schmöger
flag adopted 15 Aug 1991
The English name is officially Mecklenburg West Pomerania, according
to an e-mail from the Staatskanzlei (office of the prime minister).
Marcus Schmöger, 17 Sep 2001
I sent some unsolved questions to the Mecklenburg-West Pomerania government
which sent me a prompt and detailed reply. What I got is a coloured specification
sheet for the Mecklenburg-West Pomerania flags, containing:
- Clear images of the flags
- Colour specifications
- Construction sheets
However, as I learned from the accompanying letter, this specification sheet is not part of a legal text, "It only serves for the standardization of the outward appearance of the Land administration". My images of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania flags are made after these specifications. The blue (ultramarinblau) is specified as CMYK 100/70/0/0 (i.e. RGB 0-77-255), the yellow as CMYK 0/0/100/0 (i.e. RGB 255-255-0), the red (zinnoberrot) as CMYK 0/100/100/0 (i.e. RGB 255-0-0).
The proportion of the width of the stripes is defined as 4:3:1:3:4.
Hißflaggen (hoisted, horizontal flags) shall have an overall proportion
of 3:5. Vertical flags shall come in two different
variants: the Hängeflagge (hanging flag) and the Banner.
Marcus Schmöger, 26 Sep 2001
The Land (civil) flag is blue-white-yellow-white-red (4:3:1:3:4).
From contributions by David Lewellen, 1995; Pascal Vagnat,
19 December 1995 and Carsten Linke, 2 May 1996
The Landesflagge (civil flag) is striped horizontally blue-white-yellow-white-red. The drawing attached to the law shows the proportion to be 3:5, the relation of the width of the stripes to be approximately 4:3:1:3:4. However, this relation is not prescribed in the text of the law, and the drawing is in my humble opinion not exact enough. Relying on the drawing the relation would be 57:45:12:45:57, which seems a bit odd, so that some flag manufacturers produce them in weird ratios (see this webpage where the ratio is 5:6:1:6:5). The exact colours are also unspecified in the law, which only says ultramarinblau (ultramarine blue) and zinnoberrot (vermillion).
Sources: Schurdel 1995, Laitenberger
and Bassier 2000, Gesetz über die Hoheitszeichen des Landes vom
29. Januar 1991. Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
1991, S. 14-15 (Law on the Symbols of the Federal State of 29th January
1991. Law and Official Gazette of Mecklenburg West Pomerania 1991, pp.
14-15): and Verordnung über die Führung der Landeswappen, der Landessiegel,
der Amtsschilder und der Standarten vom 15. August 1991. Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt
für Mecklenburg-Vorpommern 1991, S. 342-345 (Regulation about the use
of the Federal State's coats-of-arms, seals, office plates and standards
of 15th August 1991. Law and Official Gazette of Mecklenburg West Pomerania
1991, pp. 342-345).
Marcus Schmöger, 17 Sep 2001
According to the specification sheet I received from the Mecklenburg-West
Pomerania government, the blue (ultramarinblau) is specified as
CMYK 100/70/0/0 (i.e. RGB 0-77-255), the yellow as CMYK 0/0/100/0 (i.e.
RGB 255-255-0), the red (zinnoberrot) as CMYK 0/100/100/0 (i.e.
RGB 255-0-0). The proportion of the width of the stripes is indeed defined
as 4:3:1:3:4. Hißflaggen (hoisted, horizontal flags) shall have
an overall proportion of 3:5.
Marcus Schmöger, 26 Sep 2001
The state flag is blue-white-yellow-white-red (4:3:1:3:4), with a bull's
head and a griffin on the white stripe, the yellow strip being interrupted.
I find that the choice of a flag with a yellow stripe on a white one was
not a good one. Proportions 3:5. The colours combine the blue-yellow-red
flag of Mecklenburg and the light blue-white
flag of Pomerania.
From contributions by David Lewellen, 1995; Pascal Vagnat,
19 December 1995 and Carsten Linke, 2 May 1996
The Dienstflagge (state flag) is the same as the civil
flag but adds the symbols from the coat-of-arms
in the centre: a black ox head for Mecklenburg, a red griffin for Pomerania.
The thin yellow stripe is interrupted to provide space for the two symbols.
The ox head is on the hoist side, the griffon on the fly side. Sources:
as above for the civil flag.
Marcus Schmöger, 17 Sep 2001
The state vessels (e.g. police boats) use the state flag as a jack.
Source: Kroker 2000.
Marcus Schmöger, 19 Sep 2001
Editor's note: see also the State Flag
Construction Sheets.
Quarterly: 1st and 4th (Mecklenburg): Or, an ox head Sable, horned Argent, langued Gules, crowned Or; 2nd (Pomerania): Argent, a griffin Gules, armed Or; 3rd (Brandenburg): Argent, an eagle Gules, armed Or. It was adopted in 1991.
There are two ox heads because for centuries Mecklenburg was divided
into two duchies: Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Both used
the same flag and coat of arms. The Brandenburg
coat-of-arms appears because after abolishing the States in 1952, the German
Democratic Republic established counties with slightly different borders,
and the 1990 rebirth of the States was based on these new borders. Therefore
some former Brandenburgian territories now belong to Mecklenburg-West Pomerania.
Carsten Linke, 2 May 1996