View source for National colours of Germany

{{short description|National symbol of Germany}}
{{use British English|date=October 2019}}
[[File:Black Red Gold Rope at German Bundestag in Berlin 2010.jpg|thumb|280px|Black, red, and gold barrier cord at the German [[Bundestag]] parliament]]
The [[national colours]] of the [[Federal Republic of Germany]] are officially [[black]], [[red]], and [[Or (heraldry)|gold]],<ref>The "gold" (''Or'') is nearly always represented by a shade of yellow, as there is no distinct color "yellow" in [[Tincture (heraldry)|heraldry]]; they both count as "gold".</ref> defined with the adoption of the [[flag of Germany|West German flag]] as a [[tricolour (flag)|tricolour]] with these colours in 1949.<ref>Article 22 sec. 2 of the German [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|Basic Law]] constitution: ''Die Bundesflagge ist schwarz-rot-gold.'' ("The federal flag shall be black, red, and gold.").</ref> Germany was divided into [[West Germany]] and [[East Germany]] from 1949 to 1990, and both Germanies retained the black, red, and gold colors on their respective flags. After [[German reunification]] in 1990, the united Germany retained the West German flag, thus retaining black, red, and gold as Germany's colors.

The colours ultimately hark back to the tricolour adopted by the ''[[Urburschenschaft]]'' of [[Jena]] in 1815, representing an early phase in the development of [[German nationalism]] and the idea of a [[Unification of Germany|unified German state]]. Since the 1860s, there has been a competing tradition of national colours as black, white, and red, based on the [[Hanseatic flags]], used as the flag of the [[North German Confederation]] and the [[German Empire]]. The [[Weimar Republic]] in 1919 opted to re-introduce the black, red, and gold tricolour. This was controversial, and as a compromise, the old flag was reintroduced in 1922 to represent German diplomatic missions abroad. As a reaction, ''[[Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold]]'' was an organization formed in 1924 representing the parties supporting parliamentary democracy, and for the remainder of the existence of the Weimar Republic, black-red-gold represented the centrist parties supporting parliamentary and black-white-red represented its nationalist and monarchist opposition.

==Black, red, and gold==
=== Supposed pre-modern origins ===
{{see|Coat of arms of Germany}}
[[File:Reichsadler Manesse.png|thumb|Coat of arms of Emperor [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry VI]], Codex Manesse]]
[[File:Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1430-1806).svg|thumb|The ''[[Reichssturmfahne|Reichsbanner]]'' of the Holy Roman Emperors as used from the 15th century]]

The choice of black, red, and gold as national colours was retrospectively motivated by occurrence of this combination of colours in the medieval coat of arms of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]s, the black ''[[Reichsadler]]'' in a golden field used since the 12th century. The imperial colours black and gold were adopted by many [[Free imperial city|imperial cities]] to underline their [[Imperial immediacy|immediacy]].{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} The colours black, red, and gold were supposedly used at the [[Imperial election|election]] of [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick Barbarossa]] as [[King of the Romans]] on 4 March 1152 in [[Frankfurt]].<ref>{{cite book|first=George Henry|last=Preble|title=The symbols, standards, flags, and banners of ancient and modern nations|year=1980|isbn=0816184763}}{{page needed|date=December 2014}}</ref> According to contemporary sources, the new king's way from [[Frankfurt Cathedral]] to the [[Römer]] square was covered with a coloured carpet, which was afterwards cut into numerous small parts and distributed to the crowds. A red-clawed, -beaked and -tongued imperial eagle was used from the 14th century onwards, as depicted in the [[Codex Manesse]] about 1304.

The [[Habsburg monarchy]] used the colours black and gold as its dynastic flag from about 1700; when emperor [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II]] abdicated from the throne in 1806, he adopted the colours as the flag of his [[Austrian Empire]].{{clarify|date=December 2014}}<!--are we saying the Habsburg flag made reference to the imperial eagle? Why is this even mentioned here (as no red is involved)? And where is the reference putting this into context?-->

The black-red-gold tricolour's first known appearance on a state flag, anywhere in a German-ethnicity [[sovereign state]] within what today comprises Germany, [[Flag of Germany#Principality of Reuss-Greiz|occurred in 1778]]. Following this documented "first-use" by the reigning [[house of Reuss]] of the modern tricolor combination, the connection of the black-red-gold tricolour with the Reichsbanner design appears to have been made as early as during the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states|March Revolution]]. [[Ferdinand Freiligrath]] in his poem ''Schwarz-Rot-Gold'', published 1851 and dated 17 March 1848, has the lines ''Das ist das alte Reichspanier, Das sind die alten Farben!'' ("This is the old imperial banner, these are the old colours!"), and in addition provides a symbolism for the colours as ''Pulver ist schwarz, Blut ist rot, Golden flackert die Flamme!'' ("Gunpowder is black, blood is red, golden flares the flame!").

Communist authors  also attributed use of the colours by insurgents of the 1525 [[German Peasants' War]], so  [[Friedrich Engels]] in his ''[[The Peasant War in Germany]]'' (1850, p.&nbsp;91), and [[Albert Norden]], ''Um die Nation'' (1953, p.&nbsp;17).

=== Wars of Liberation ===
[[File:Flag of Urburschenschaft.svg|thumb|''Urburschenschaft'' banner (replica)]]
Uniforms of the [[Lützow Free Corps]] during the [[German campaign (Napoleonic Wars)|German campaign]] (1813–1814) against [[First French Empire|French]] occupation under [[Napoleon]] also consisted of a combination of black, red, and gold—though mainly for functional reasons: the corps under command of the [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] major [[Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow]] was made up of volunteer university students from all over Germany, whose varied clothing was uniformly coloured in black, festooned with common [[brass]] knobs and red [[Facing colour|facings]]. The [[Uhlans|Uhlan]] forces used red and black lance [[pennon]]s.

Black, red, and gold – if even in reverse order compared to nowadays, i.e. gold at the top – resembling the former imperial colours soon became symbols of the German struggle for freedom, symbolizing the road from servitude (black) through bloody fight (red) to the stars (gold), similar to the famous saying ''[[per aspera ad astra]]'' (to the stars through difficulties). This interpretive culture was perpetuated in the memory of venerated martyrs like [[Theodor Körner (author)|Theodor Körner]]. The red and black colours with a golden [[oak leaf cluster]] were adopted as ''[[couleur]]'' by the first German national ''[[Urburschenschaft]]'' student fraternity established on 12 June 1815 in [[Jena]], and publicly displayed on the 1817 [[Wartburg Festival]].

The students' hopes of a national awakening dashed with the implementation of the [[German Confederation]], not a [[nation state]] but a loose [[federation]] of the German monarchs, who by the 1819 reactionary [[Carlsbad Decrees]] banned any fraternity activities. Since then the black-red-gold [[tricolour (flag)|tricolour]] became a widespread symbol of the pursuit of liberty, democracy and liberal unity, thus the colours were used on horizontal tricolour flags by Lützow veterans and other democratic revolutionaries of the [[Hambach Festival]] in 1832, and in the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states|Revolutions of 1848]].

=== March Revolution ===
[[File:Nationalversammlung in der Paulskirche.jpg|thumb|Frankfurt Parliament, St. Paul's Church, decorated with ''[[Germania (St. Paul's Church, Frankfurt am Main)|Germania]]'']]
As a result of the 1848 revolutions, the [[Federal Convention (German Confederation)|Federal Convention]] of the German Confederation, which had continued the use of the Imperial Eagle coat of arms in 1815, also adopted the tricolour ("from German time immemorial") in order to steady the nationalist unrest. Emperor [[Ferdinand I of Austria]] had the Black, Red, and Gold flag hoisted on [[St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna]] and showed himself with the flag on a window of [[Hofburg Palace]]. In [[Berlin]], King [[Frederick William IV of Prussia]] had to bow to the fallen insurgents of the [[liberation movement]] and to wear a Black, Red and Gold [[armband]] while riding through the city.

When on 18 May 1848 the [[Frankfurt Parliament]] first convened, the city streets were decorated in the "German colours" like the assembly room in [[St. Paul's Church, Frankfurt am Main|St. Paul's Church]]. On November 12, the parliament passed a resolution whereafter black-red-gold became the German [[war flag|war]] and [[civil ensign|merchant flag]]. However, as official flag of the German Confederation, the tricolour was mainly used in the small Imperial fleet ([[Reichsflotte]]), which was dissolved by 1852. The [[Frankfurt Constitution]], adopted in 1849 and never carried into effect, omitted any provision of national symbols. After the dissolution of the Frankfurt Parliament, the tricolour vanished from public space. Mocked by [[Heinrich Heine]] as "old Germanic rubbish", it nevertheless remained the official flag of the German Confederation, "revitalized" in 1866 as the banner of Austria and her allies in the [[Austro-Prussian War|War with Prussia]] and the North German states.

== Black, white, and red ==
[[File:North German Union Merchant. Johnson's new chart of national emblems, 1868.jpg|thumb|North German merchant flag, 1868]]
After the war and the breakup of the German Confederation, the Prussian-led [[North German Confederation]] was established at the instance of Minister-President [[Otto von Bismarck]] to answer the [[German question]]. Another colour scheme was desired, as the black and gold colours were associated with Habsburg Austria. From 1867, the black, white, and red colours became the flag of the newly established [[federated state]]; the tricolour derived from the combination of the Prussian black and white with the [[Hanseatic flags|white and red flag]] of the North German [[Hanseatic League]].

Since the 13th century, a black cross on white coat had been carried by medieval [[Teutonic Knights]] which had founded the [[State of the Teutonic Order]] in Prussia. Their Grand Master [[Hermann von Salza]] received the rights to bear the imperial black eagle by the 1226 [[Golden Bull of Rimini]], issued by Emperor [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]], to indicate that he enjoyed imperial immediacy as a [[Prince of the Holy Roman Empire]]. When the Teutonic state was secularized in 1525 as the [[Duchy of Prussia]], the black eagle on a white shield became the [[coat of arms of Prussia|Prussian coat of arms]]. The ruling [[House of Hohenzollern]] also had a black and white family coat of arms.

In addition to the black and white of Prussia, the white and red colours of the former [[Hanseatic League]] were added. Even though this medieval international trade organization had lost its influence over two centuries earlier, the [[city-state]]s of [[Bremen]], [[Hamburg]], and [[Lübeck]], all former [[Free Imperial Cities]], took pride in their centuries-old Hanseatic tradition. The navy commander [[Prince Adalbert of Prussia (1811–1873)|Prince Adalbert of Prussia]] strongly advocated the implementation of a combined tricolour of Prussian black and white and Hanseatic white and red as a war flag and a civil ensign. Bismarck ("I don't care whatsoever about those colors! Whatever, green and yellow and dancing pleasure, or the flag of [[Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Mecklenburg-Strelitz]]...") made no objections.

[[File:Kaiserpostkarte.jpg|thumb|"One People! One Emperor! One God!", German postcard, about 1900]]
From the 1871 [[German unification]] until 1918, black, white, and red were widely accepted as the national colours of the [[German Empire]], though they were not officially adopted as the imperial flag by law before 1892. Numerous German associations embraced the patriotic tricolour, and sports organisations that were founded prior to [[World War I]] often choose white with additional black and/or red as their colours.

== State colours ==
In the [[German Revolution of 1918–19]], the "imperialist" black, white, and red were abandoned in favour of the "democratic" black, red, and gold colours of 1848. In view of Germany's unfortunate position after the lost war and under the terms of the [[Treaty of Versailles|Versailles Treaty]], monarchist and [[German National People's Party|German National]] forces advocated the retention of the imperial colours as a matter of national pride. Since then, and up to today, black, white, and red are often associated with right wing radicalism because of their use by right wing parties and in [[far-right politics|far-right]] circles.

=== Weimar Republic ===
Though even liberal deputies in the [[Weimar National Assembly]] spoke against a change of colours, Article 3 of the [[Weimar Constitution|German Constitution]] of 11 August 1919 determined black, red, and gold both for the tricolour national flag and the eagle coat of arms of the [[Weimar Republic]]. Considering the preceding debates however, the former black, white, and red colours were retained as the German [[civil ensign]], with black, red, and gold in the upper left corner. Not until 1922, the ''[[Reichskriegsflagge]]'' banner was officially outlawed on ships of the [[Reichsmarine|German Navy]]. The official black, red, and gold colours were refused by wide circles in the [[Reichswehr]] armed forces and World War I veterans' associations.

The issue of the national colours was, however, continuously debated in the German society. ''[[Studentenverbindung]]'' organisations emphasized the [[German question|Greater German]] meaning of black, red, and gold, which had actually been frustrated by the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] prohibiting the accession of [[Republic of German Austria|German-Austria]] to Germany. Most of the [[Centrism|centrist]] political parties were in favour of the new colours, but many people of  different political views still felt that black, white, and red were the true colours of Germany. The flag of the Weimar Republic was insulted by conservatives and nationalists, [[Communist Party of Germany|Communists]] and [[Nazi Party|Nazis]] alike, who sometimes referred to it as "black-red-yellow" or even "black-red-mustard", if not even worse. In 1921, even [[Gustav Stresemann]], chairman of the national liberal [[German People's Party]] argued for the reintroduction of black, white, and red. In May 1926, the German government of Chancellor [[Hans Luther]] had to resign after a quarrel over the display of flags at German embassies.

To encounter antidemocratic forces, the [[Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold]] society was founded by members of the [[Social Democratic Party of Germany]], the Catholic [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]], and the liberal [[German Democratic Party]] in 1924. Led by the Social Democrat [[Otto Hörsing]], the defined goal of the organisation was to defend the colours and the [[parliamentary system|parliamentary]] values they represented. Initially a league of World War I veterans, the ''Reichsbanner'' soon evolved to a [[mass organisation]] with a membership of more than three million. Increasingly attacked by the ''[[Sturmabteilung]]'', ''[[Der Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten|Der Stahlhelm]]'' paramilitary groups, it joined forces with the ''[[Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund]]'' and ''[[Allgemeiner freier Angestelltenbund]]'' trade unions to form the democratic [[Iron Front]]. With the Weimar democracy, the black, red, and gold colours went down fighting.

=== Nazi rule ===
{{see|Flag of Nazi Germany}}
Upon the [[Nazi Party]]'s ''[[Machtergreifung]]'' when [[Adolf Hitler]] came to power in January 1933, the "democratic" colours quickly fell out of use, though they were not officially abolished. The Nazis preferred the old imperial colours of black, white, and red, and then their own  party symbol, the [[Flag of Nazi Germany|swastika flag]], which also used a combination of black, white, and red colours, but not in the same way as the old [[flag of the German Empire]]. Instead, red was the dominant colour. Hitler added new symbolism to the colours, stating that "[t]he red expressed the social thought underlying the movement. White the national thought", and that the black [[swastika]] was an emblem of the "[[Aryan race]]" and "the ideal of creative work which is in itself and always will be [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]]."<ref name=":0">[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200601.txt ''Mein Kampf'' at Project Gutenberg]</ref>

The black-red-gold tricolour flag of the Weimar Republic was banned on 14 March 1933<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de1933.html|title=Third Reich 1933-1945 (Germany) Flags used 11 March 1933 - 15 September 1935}}</ref> and initially replaced by the old black-white-red tricolour of the German Empire as the national flag. At the same time, the swastika flag of the Nazi Party was introduced as the official flag, mandatory for use in parallel with the national flag.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.documentarchiv.de/ns/flaggen.html |title=Verordnung über die vorläufige Regelung der Flaggenführung auf Kauffahrteischiffen |author=von Hindenburg, Paul |work=documentArchiv.de |language=de |trans-title= Ordinance on the provisional regulation of flag flying on merchant ships |date=20 December 1933 |access-date=7 November 2024 |author-link=Paul von Hindenburg}}</ref> The quickness with which the change of the national colours took place was evidenced by the fact that Reich President [[Paul von Hindenburg]] by order of 7 March 1933, just two days after the [[German federal election, March 1933|German federal election]], instructed the authorities to fly black-white-red flags as official decorations on for the upcoming ''[[Volkstrauertag]]'' public holiday (13 March).<ref>Karlheinz Weißmann: ''Schwarze Fahnen, Runenzeichen.'' Düsseldorf 1991, S. 183.</ref>

After Hindenburg's death on 2 August 1934, Hitler styled himself ''[[Führer]]'' and [[Reich Chancellor]]. The position of the Nazi Party seemed so solid that further measures could be taken towards the unification of party and state. In the course of this unification, the Nazi swastika flag was elevated to the rank of the national flag of Nazi Germany. The main reason for this change is said to have been that on 26 July 1935 in [[New York City|New York]] a group of anti-Nazi demonstrators boarded the ''[[SS Bremen (1928)|SS Bremen]]'', tore the Nazi flag from the [[jackstaff]] and threw it into the [[Hudson River]]. The German ambassador sharply protested, but the protest was rejected, with the statement that only a political party symbol was desacrated and the national flag was not affected.<ref>Brian Leigh Davis: Flags & standards of the Third Reich, Macdonald & Jane's, London 1975, {{ISBN|0-356-04879-9}}</ref> On 15 September 1935, in response to this incident, the ''Reichsflaggengesetz'' (Reich Flag Law) came into effect, declaring the Nazi Party swastika to be the national flag and civil ensign of Germany<ref name="flag1935">{{cite web |url=http://www.documentarchiv.de/ns/1935/flaggen1935_ges.html |title=Reichsflaggengesetz (Eines der drei "Nürnberger Gesetze") |work=documentArchiv.de |language=de |trans-title=Reich Flag Law (One of the three "Nuremberg Laws") |date=15 September 1935 |access-date=7 November 2024}}</ref>  and banning usage of the black, white, and red flag of the German Empire because of its "[[reactionary]] nature".<ref name="time-magazine-1935-nazi-rally">Statement by [[Hermann Göring]], quoted in the {{lang|de|[[Völkischer Beobachter]]}} (17 September 1935) (in German)</ref> National conservative protests had become silent. In a speech, [[Reichstag (Nazi Germany)|Reichstag]] president [[Hermann Göring]] called the black, white, and red flag of the German Empire a "honorably pulled down".

=== Post-war ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1990-1003-400, Berlin, deutsche Vereinigung, vor dem Reichstag.jpg|thumb|The German Unity Flag is raised as national memorial to [[German reunification]] in front of the [[Reichstag building|Reichstag]] in [[Berlin]] on 3 October 1990.]]
After [[World War II]], Germany was occupied and divided. Both new states founded in 1949, the [[West Germany|Federal Republic of Germany]] (West Germany) and the [[German Democratic Republic]] (East Germany), once again took up the "democratic" colours of black, red, and gold from the Weimar Republic, with the GDR modifying it by adding their own socialist symbols to [[Flag of East Germany|their flag]] in 1959. As a compromise, the Olympic [[United Team of Germany]], which had first competed in 1956, had to add white Olympic rings to the flag for the games of 1960 and 1964, and also for 1968 when two separate German teams entered under common symbols. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, East German citizens cut out the socialist symbols of the East German flag in order to show support for a unification with West Germany, which had also continued the use of the traditional eagle coat of arms, called [[Coat of arms of Germany|''Bundesadler'']].

In the Federal Republic of Germany (since 1949), and especially after the 1960s, only very [[far-right]] parties use black, white, and red, especially radical conservatives and [[neo-Nazi]]s. [[Right-wing populism|Right-wing populist]] and [[National conservatism|national conservative]] parties, for example [[The Republicans (Germany)|The Republicans]], pointedly display black, red, and gold in their logo. Beside the right-wing extremists only the very small group of [[monarchist]]s display the old colours.

== Use of colours in sports ==
[[Image:Richard Nagel.jpg|thumb|upright|German rower [[Richard Nagel]], wearing white with a red chest band]]

German sports teams often use white as a main colour, as organisations that had been founded prior to 1919 often have chosen the [[Flag of Prussia|Prussian colours]]: white with additional black and sometimes red. Examples are the [[Germany national football team]] fielded by the [[German Football Association]] (DFB) since 1908, German  track and field athletes<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.leichtathletik.de/index.php?SiteID=419|title = Das Leichtathletik-Portal - Start}}</ref> and rowers<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rudern.de/ |title=Home |website=rudern.de}}</ref> who use a red chest band, and German race cars, which were, according to the [[List of international auto racing colors|international auto racing colour scheme]], painted white with red numbers (since 1934, [[Mercedes-Benz]] and [[Auto Union]] have used unpainted metal, or [[silver (color)|silver]]).

Between 1918 and 1933, and after 1945, black-red-gold again became the national colours. Organisations founded in that time frame, such as the German [[American Football]] Association (AFVD)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.afvd.de/ |title=Home |website=afvd.de}}</ref> or the German Organisation of Non-Olympic sports (IGNOV),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ignov.de/Mitglieder.php |title=IG Nov |access-date=2007-07-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070627093802/http://www.ignov.de/Mitglieder.php |archive-date=2007-06-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> often use black-red-gold in their colours, mostly on a white background. In recent years, most national teams of older organisations have added black-red-gold trim to their uniforms.

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==See also==
*[[Flag of Germany]]
*[[Flags of Germany|List of flags of Germany]]
*[[Flags of German states]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NqBYMhhN3M ''Die Sendung mit der Maus – Die deutsche Flagge''] – Origins of the German flag and its colours (German video)

{{National symbols of Germany}}
{{National colours}}

[[Category:National colours|Germany]]
[[Category:National symbols of Germany|Colours]]
[[Category:Neustadt an der Weinstraße]]