Hamburg

The flag of Hamburg, a city and a federal land of Germany, is a white castle with three towers on red background.
The civil flag is usually produced in 2:3 ratio. This is also the ratio shown on the plate of the legal prescription, so one could argue that this is the prescribed ratio. However, it is also produced in 3:5, which is the more frequent ratio for German flags.
==Other flags of Hamburg==
File:Hamburg (admiralty flag).svg|Admiralty Flag
The admiralty flag currently is flown over state buildings connected to the navigation, since the city has no warships.
==Symbolism==
The colors have been derived from the carnations, which the city presents at official occasions.
The red and white colors are typical for the member cities of the Hanseatic League.
==History==
The oldest seal with the castle dates from 1241. The first flag displaying the arms showed up about 1470 — this was most probably a red field with a red castle in a white escutcheon. After about 1623 the castle without an escutcheon was used, i.e. a red castle on white or a white castle on red. It was only in 1751, that the white castle on red was decreed as the Hamburg flag.
== Nickname ==
* White Castle
** Weisses Schloss
== Trivia ==
* White Castle Restaurants got its name from the white castle design on the Hamburg flag. The restaurant sells fast-food such as hamburgers, which eponymously originated from Hamburg.
==References==
*Hamburg on Flags of the World
*Flag of Hamburg on Wikipedia
Category:Germany
Category:Multiple proportions
Category:Red background
Category:German Cities
Category:Proportions 2-3
Category:Proportions 3-5
Category:Castles
Category:White
Category:Six-pointed stars