page_title: Flag of Germany
section_title: Flag days
hierarchical_section_title: Flag of Germany / Flag days
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Das Stadtweinhaus in der deutschen Stadt Münster (Westfalen) am 28. Januar 2006 mit Trauerbeflaggung aus Anlass des Todes des ehemaligen Bundespräsidenten Johannes Rau. English: The "Stadtweinhaus" in Münster, Westphalia, Germany (on January 28 2006 with Flags half-mast for the former Bundespräsident Johannes Rau)
context_page_description: The flag of Germany is a tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands displaying the national colours of Germany: black, red, and gold. The flag was first adopted as the national flag of modern Germany in 1919, during the Weimar Republic, until 1933.
  Since the mid-19th century, Germany has two competing traditions of national colours, black-red-gold and black-white-red. Black-red-gold were the colours of the 1848 Revolutions, the Weimar Republic of 1919–1933 and the Federal Republic. They were also adopted by the German Democratic Republic, albeit, since 1959, with an additional coat of arms.
  The colours black-white-red appeared for the first time only in 1867, in the constitution of the North German Confederation. This nation state for Prussia and other north and central German states was expanded to the south German states in 1870–71, under the name German Empire. It kept these colours until the revolution of 1918–19. Thereafter, black-white-red became a symbol of the political right. The national socialists in 1933 re-established these colours along with the party's own swastika flag.
context_section_description: Following federal decree on 22 March 2005, the flag must be flown from public buildings on the following dates. Only 1 May and 3 October are public holidays.
  Election days for the Bundestag and the European Parliament are also flag days in some states, in addition to other state-specific flag days. The public display of flags to mark other events, such as the election of the president or the death of a prominent politician (whereupon flags would be at half-staff), can be declared at the discretion of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. When flags are required to be flown at half-staff, vertical flags are not lowered. A black mourning ribbon is instead attached, either atop the staff (if hung from a pole) or to each end of the flag's supporting cross-beams (if flown like a banner).
caption: The Stadtweinhaus in Münster with banners displayed in mourning (note the black ribbons atop each staff) after the death of former German president Johannes Rau in 2006
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