North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)

Nordrhein-Westfalen

Last modified: 2006-09-09 by jarig bakker
Keywords: nordrhein-westfalen |
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3:5  image by Marcus Schmöger, 18 Sep 2001
Flag adopted 10th Mar 1953, in use since 1948

• Civil Flag (Landesflagge)
• State Flag (Landesdienstflagge)
• Car Flags for Authorities (Kraftfahrzeugflaggen)
• Jack for State Vessels (Gösch für staatliche Wasserfahrzeuge)
• Unofficial variants

• County and Municipal Flags (Kreis- und Gemeindeflaggen)
• Historical Flags:
• Historical Flags of Rhineland States
• Cisrhenian Republic 1797
• Lippe
• Rhineland Province 1882-1935 (Provinz Rheinland, Prussia)
• Westphalia Province 1882-1935 (Provinz Westfalen, Prussia)
• Westphalia 1945-1946 (Westfalen)
• Political Parties:
• German Centre Party (Zentrum / Deutsche Zentrumspartei) 

• Coat-of-Arms of Westphalia (white horse on red)
• Germany

Civil Flag / Landesflagge

The Land flag is green on white on red. The state flag is the same with the arms in the middle. Proportions 3:5. (...) The flag of this new Land (green-white-red) was officialised only in 1953. Source: Veddeler 1987.
Pascal Vagnat, 19 Dec 1995

The Landesflagge (civil flag) is a tricolour of green-white-red in the proportions 3:5. It was officialized in the law of 1953, however already used since 1948. It is simply the combination of the green-white colours of Rhineland and white-red of Westphalia.
Sources: Schurdel 1995, Laitenberger and Bassier 2000, Kuhn 1991, p. 90
- Anselm Faust, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Landesgeschichte im Lexikon, Düsseldorf (Patmos-Verlag), 1993, p. 256.
- Gesetz über die Landesfarben, das Landeswappen und die Landesflagge vom 10. März 1953. Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen 1953, S. 140 (Law on the Colours, the Coat-of-Arms and the Flag of the Federal State of 10th March 1953. Law and Official Gazette of the Federal State North Rhine-Westphalia 1953, p. 140), and
- Verordnung über die Führung des Landeswappens vom 16. Mai 1956. Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen 1956, S. 163-166 (Regulation on the Use of the Federal State's Coat-of-Arms of 16th May 1956. Law and Official Gazette for the Federal State North Rhine-Westphalia 1956, pp. 163-166).
Marcus Schmöger, 18 Sep 2001

State Flag / Landesdienstflagge

A horizontal tricolor green-white-red with the arms shifted slightly left of center (the shield also is not symmetrical). Illustrated in Smith 1975 p.227.
Norman Martin, Apr 1998

Landesdienstflagge has the coat of arms slightly moved toward the hoist.
Mario Fabretto, 28 Aug 1998

The design of the coat of arms shown on the official state government website is not the official coat of arms. It is a state coat of arms for private use [termed Nordrhein-Westfalen Wappenzeichen] as the coat of arms is only for official use. The official coat of arms is the one found on Marcus Schmöger's image above and on the World Flag Database.
Kai A. Hamm, 23 Jun 2000

The Landesdienstflagge (state flag) is the civil flag with the coat-of-arms. This is somewhat shifted to the hoist. The state flag was first prescribed in the above mentioned law of 1953 [see sources under civil flag], but was already used since 1948. A photo (from 1948) in Kuhn 1991, p.90, shows (beside other flags of German Länder) a vertical variant (Banner) of the North Rhine-Westphalia state flag. The coat-of-arms had been preliminarily described in a Bekanntmachung über das Wappen des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (Announcement on the Coat-of-Arms of the Federal State North Rhine-Westphalia, 21st January 1948) and finally prescribed in the above mentioned regulation of 1956.
Marcus Schmöger, 18 Sep 2001

An interesting detail from a heraldic point of view in the arms of North Rhine-Westphalia is the German practice of letting the dexter field be turned in courtoisie within the shield, something which is not always made in other countries. The arms of the Rhineland is Vert a bend wavy Argent, not a bend sinister.
See for instance this arms at Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Arms website.
Elias Granqvist, 19 Sep 2001

Car Flags for Authorities / Kraftfahrzeugflaggen

Unfortunately I have no information on these car flags, neither the legal texts I have - probably I do not have all of them - nor the books mention them (see sources under civil flag).
Marcus Schmöger, 18 Sep 2001

Jack for State Vessels / Gösch für staatliche Wasserfahrzeuge

The state vessels (e.g. police boats) use a triangular pennant as a jack.
Source: Kroker 2000.
Marcus Schmöger, 18 Sep 2001

Unofficial variants