National colours of Germany
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The national colours of Germany are officially Black, Red and Gold (in practice replaced by a shade of yellow) as seen on the flag of Germany since 1949. The same colors had been used by the Weimar Republic after 1918, by democratic revolutionaries in the 19th century, and by the Holy Roman Empire since the Middle Ages.
Until 1918, the German Empire had used Black, White and Red, which derive from the Black cross on White coat carried by medieval Teutonic Knights, and the White and Red flag of the Hanseatic League. German sports organisations that had been founded prior to World War I thus often have chosen White with additional Black and/or Red as their colours, e.g. the German national football team, track and field athletes [1] and race cars.
Contents |
[edit] History of Black, Red and Gold
.svg/80px-Banner_of_the_Holy_Roman_Emperor_(after_1400).svg.png)
A black eagle on a gold shield with red trim had been used on the semi-official Reichsadler coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire since the Middle Ages. Flags in Black, Red and Gold were used e.g. at the coronation of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor in 1152.[1] When the HRE was dissolved by Napoleon in 1806, the Habsburg dynasty continued to use the black and gold colours for their Austrian Empire.
Uniforms of the Lützow Free Corps during the German liberation wars (de:Befreiungskriege) against French occupation under Napoleon also consisted of a combination of black, red and gold. The colours were later used on horizontal tricolour flags by Lützow veterans and other democratic revolutionaries of the Hambacher Fest in 1832, and in the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states. As a result, the German Confederation which had continued the use of the eagle coat of arms in 1815 also adopted the tricolour flag in 1848. It was mainly used only in the small Imperial fleet (de:Reichsflotte) which was dissolved already by 1852. Due to these traditions, the Weimar Republic that replaced the monarchies of the German Empire at the end of World War I in 1918 chose Black, Red and Gold both for the tricolour flag and the eagle coat of arms.
.svg/80px-Wappen_Deutsches_Reich_(Weimarer_Republik).svg.png)
The issue on the national colours was however continuously debated in Weimar Republic. The democratic political parties where in favour of the new colours, but many people of all different political views felt that the black, white and red were the true colours of Germany and they were used by conservatives, nationalists, communists and national socialists alike. Organisations like de:Reichsbanner Schwarz-Rot-Gold were founded to defend the colours and the values they represented. Yet, when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, he quickly abolished the "democratic" colours and made his own Nazi party swastika flag the new national flag of Germany. This Nazi flag used a combination of black, white and red colours, but not in the same way as the old flag of the Empire. Instead, the socialist red was the dominant colour.
After World War II, Germany was occupied and divided. Both new states founded in 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), took up the colours of black, red and gold again, with the GDR adding their socialist symbols in 1959. In the Olympics from 1956 to 1964, the United Team of Germany added white Olympic rings to the flag. 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 Bundesadler.
[edit] History of Black, White and Red
Since the 13th century, a Black cross on White coat was carried by medieval Teutonic Knights which had founded the Monastic state of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia. As a sign that they enjoyed Reichsfreiheit as direct subjects only to the Holy Roman Emperor, they also used the Imperial black eagle on a gold shield to indicate this.
The monastic state in Prussia was secularized in 1525 as Ducal Prussia which was not part of the Empire. Thus, it could become the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. The Prussian coat of arms and flag evolved into a black eagle on white. Since the 18th century, Prussia was often at war with the Austrian Habsburgs that ruled the Empire. Due to this rivalry, the German Confederation broke up in 1866. After beating Austria and its Southern German allies in the Austro-Prussian War, Bismarck founded the North German Confederation which was dominated by Prussia.
As the Black and Gold colors were associated with Austria, another colour scheme was desired. In addition to the Black and White of Prussia, the White and Red colours the former Hanseatic League were added. Even though this medieval international trade organization had lost its influence over two centuries ago, the Free Imperial Cities Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg take pride in their century-old Hanse tradition.
The Black, White and Red tricolour flag of the North German Confederation was carried over to the German Empire which was founded in 1871 together with the states of Southern Germany. This flag was used until 1918.
[edit] Use of colours in sports etc.
German sports organisations that had been founded prior to 1919 often have chosen the contemporary national colours, often White with additional Black and/or Red as their colours. Examples are the German national football team, German track and field athletic teams [2] and even German race cars which were originally painted white (since 1934 also silver).
More recent organisations, like the German American Football Association AFVD [3] or the German organisation of Non-Olympic sports [4], often include black-red-gold in their colours.
 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
| Germany | ||
[edit] References
- ^ George Henry Preble: The symbols, standards, flags, and banners of ancient and modern nations, prior to 1900, reprint: Flag Research Center, Winchester, USA.
