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City of Magdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt, Germany)

Landeshauptstadt Magdeburg

3:5
by Stefan Schwoon

Description

See also:

County and Municipal Flags (Saxony-Anhalt / Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany)
Saxony-Anhalt (Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany)
Germany

Description

Green-red with the arms. The arms are canting, German Magd meaning 'maiden'. Sources: flag from Günther 1996a and Staack 1997, coat-of-arms from H. Papendieck, Die Wappen der Landkreise und kreisfreien Städte des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt, Landesarchiv Magdeburg, 1996 (found at Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Arms website).

Stefan Schwoon, 16 February 2001

From Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Arms website:

The arms were officially granted in 1938. The arms of Magdeburg are canting, a virgin (Magd) on a city wall (Burg). The oldest seal of the city, dating from 1244 already shows a virgin on a wall. In another seal from 1265 the Virgin holds a wreath. Later seals all show the same arms. In the 16th century the arms are quartered with the old arms in the first and fourth quarter. In the second and third quarter a rose is added. The rose has been explained, either as the rose of Neugattersleben or as the Lutheran rose. The city owned the village of Neugattersleben and the rose was the arms of the Lords von Gattersleben in the 14th century. The Lutheran rose should indicate that the city had become Luteran.
Literature: H. Papendieck, Die Wappen der Landkreise und kreisfreien Städte des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt, Landesarchiv Magdeburg, 1996.

Santiago Dotor, 3 December 2001

I notice that the explanation for the name of the city of Magdeburg simply states that Magd means 'maiden'. While this is quite true, the Magd intended in the name of the city was most likely the Virgin Mary. However, the arms do not reflect Mary — they probably date from a period when the religious derivation of the name was either forgotten or deliberately obscured.

Mike Oettle, 24 June 2002