Variants of the National and State Flags (Germany)

Last modified: 2005-09-10 by santiago dotor
Keywords: coat of arms: eagle (black) | coat of arms (germany) |
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• National flag mistakenly hoisted upside-down
• Very long hanging flags
• State flag with coat-of-arms instead of 'federal shield'

See also:

• State Flag, State Ensign and War Flag (Bundesdienstflagge)
• Hanging Flag (Banner)
• Germany

by António Martins

I have reported more than once on the very frequent display of the German flag upside down in Spain, most notably at tourist resorts but also elsewhere.

Santiago Dotor, 6 September 2001

Well, even here in Germany such things happen. I frequently pass by a restaurant in a little village, where they have oblique flagstaffs at the wall. The German flag is upside down there.

Marcus Schmöger, 7 September 2001

6:1 by Marcus Schmöger

During the 2000 Oktoberfest in Munich (...), at the Rathaus (town hall) there were very long vertical flags (about 6:1) of Bavaria, Germany and Munich.

Marcus Schmöger, 6 October 2000

by Marcus Schmöger

The shield [Bundesschild or 'federal shield'] on the state flag has a special shape, not the same as in the coat-of-arms, though on flags used 'illegally' by sports fans the shield often totally resembles the coat-of-arms.

Dieter Linder, 12 January 1998

Issue 13 (26th March 2001) of the German weekly news magazine Der Spiegel, p. 6, showed a picture of German football fans waving that unofficial variant of the German state flag (scan here).

Marcus Schmöger, 11 May 2001

Editor's note: see also state flag 1921-1933 variant in an official publication, probably mistaken