Last modified: 2006-08-26 by jarig bakker
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Africa
Some comments on the flag usage in the German colonies (Schutzgebiete).
1. Occupation: The occupation of territories as a German colony usually took place with a ceremonial flag hoisting. This was the case, for instance, in Angra Pequena (Southwest Africa, now Namibia) on 7 August 1884, in Cameroon on 21 July 1884, in Mioko (New Guinea) on 4 November 1884. The flag hoisted was the naval ensign, as the ceremony was done by naval forces, that were to "protect" the newly established "Schutzgebiete" ("Protectorates"). The drawings of the flag hoisting in Cameroon and New Guinea (p. 218, 269) show only the naval ensign, whereas in the case of Southwest Africa the national flag is also shown, albeit on a minor building (drawing p. 35).
2. Naval ships: Ships of the German navy show (of course) the naval ensign, for instance the gunboat "Möwe" in Western Africa (Togo and Cameroon) (foto p. 194). Other flags are not visible.
3. Troops ashore: Military forces ashore (only partially belonging to the navy) used the naval ensign as well. This includes official parades (Kiaochao in 1898, foto p. 296) as well as marches with indigenous troops ("Askari" in East Africa, painting p. 161). The armed forces ("Schutztruppen") in the colonies did not have own military colours, so they used the naval ensign. On the other hand the indigenous police force of New Guinea showed the national flag (foto p. 280).
4. Civil ships: If visible, the flag used by civil ships is of course the national flag (and civil ensign). A steamboat at Lake Victoria does display it (foto p. 129) as well as a large wooden storage boat in Cameroon (drawing p. 232). The canoe of a local (Cameroon) prince also shows horizontal tricolours, obviously the black-white-red triband (drawing p. 232). A special case in this respect was King Bell of Belltown who was very germanophile, and was one of the first to sign a protection treaty with the Germans. His long canoe used for official, ceremonial purposes proudly displays the German national flag at the bow (painting p. 234).
5. Official buildings: The official buildings show a wide variety of flags. As there was no "proper" flag for these purposes up to 1892/93, they either used the national flag or the naval ensign. At a postal office at Sansibar (now Tanzania) in 1890, for instance, the naval ensign is on display (foto p. 157). A first official settlement at Sinathal (East Africa) in 1885 shows two national flags (drawing p. 100). After 1893 the proper service flag would have been the foreign office flag (Reichsdienstflagge im Bereiche des Auswärtigen Amtes), which can be seen on a foto of the sultan's palace at Dikoa (Cameroon) (p. 227). On a colour foto from Lome (Togo) there is also a service flag (visible is the white disk in the center), but it is not clear if it is the foreign office flag or the postal flag (p. 209). On a foto dated 1912 from the post office at Kilwa (East Africa) the postal flag can be clearly discerned (p. 157).
6. Private buildings: Private buildings not too frequently display
flags. An indigenous shop in German East Africa (now Tanzania) shows a
very short (almost square) example of the national flag (foto p. 161),
a beach pavilion in Apia (Samoa) a more or less "normal" national flag
(foto p. 272). A colour foto from Lome (Togo) shows a flag of the Hoermann
shipping line as well as a flag of Bremen (without any coa) (p. 209).
Source: Graudenz, K & Schindler, H-M (1988) Die deutschen Kolonien.
Augsburg (Weltbild Verlag). Flags are not specifically mentioned in
this book, but a number of illustrations (drawings or fotos) show the flags
in use.
Marcus E.V. Schmöger, 24 Nov 2002
Schurdel 1995 mentions the flag of
the Ralik Islands [nowadays part of the Marshall Islands]
which had five stripes of black-white-red-white-black. The flag was used
from 19 November 1878 to 15 October 1885.
Pascal Vagnat, 21 Feb 1996
I understand that there was a proposed German flag for the territorial
claim on Antarctica (Neuschwabenland) after the 1937-38 German expedition.
I have been unable to find the flag, I have it on very good authority that
one existed.
Phillip Armijo, 12 Dec1999
The question was raised about the proposed boundaries for the 1939 German
claim of Neuschwabenland. A lot of German technical stuff on that can be
found for instance in this
website, for example the this
zipfile with several maps and pictures. [This
small image and this
large map give an idea of the extent.] According to Westermann Lexikon
der Geographie, Braunschweig, 1970:
"Neuschwabenland is a fringe-area of the Queen-Maud-land, c. between
10 degrees West and 20 degrees East and at 75 degrees South; discovered
by the German Antarctic Expedition 1938/39. Area c. 600.000 sq. km2. In
how far this claim is real at present is quite doubtful, although on Antarctic
maps (in the National Geographic, Hammond's World Atlas e.a. this area
is still named "New Schwabenland".
The amazing thing is that this discovery was preceded by a huge operation
involving a shuttle ship between Hamburg and the
Antarctica, hydroplanes being catapulted into the
air from that ship — and all for a dreadful desert.
Jarig Bakker, 25 Feb 2000
According to the
website:
"The Neuschwabenland [expedition ship] left the port of Hamburg
on December 17th 1938 (...) and reached the ice on January 19th 1939 at
4° 15' W and 69° 10' S. The following weeks on 15 flights the [hydroplanes]
flew accross some 600,000 square kilometers and made more than 11,000 pictures
of the area. Nearly one fifth of the w[h]ole antarctic area was scanned
this way, thus documented for the first time and simultaneous claimed to
be German territory. To stress this claim on the outside too, the two planes
[disseminated] several thousands of drop-flags, special metal poles with
the expedition's insignia on them, the swastika.
So it seems that if there was ever a Neuschwabenland flag, that
was the swastika flag.
Santiago Dotor, 28 Mar 2001