Overview

The flag of East Germany was the national flag of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). From the GDR's establishment in 1949 until 1959 it used the black-red-gold horizontal tricolor that dated back to 19th‑century liberal movements and which West Germany also readopted after World War II. In 1959 a distinct state emblem was placed at the center of the tricolor to mark the GDR's separate identity; that marked flag remained in official use until German reunification in 1990.

Design and symbolism

The basic field was the traditional German tricolor: three equal horizontal bands of black (top), red (middle) and gold (bottom). The added emblem combined industrial and agricultural imagery intended to represent the socialist state. It comprised three principal elements:

  • Hammer: representing the industrial workers and laborers; the hammer element is commonly referenced in discussions of the flag as a core signifier of worker solidarity. See the depiction of the hammer.
  • Compass: symbolizing the intelligentsia, engineers and technical professions; the compass indicated the role of science and planning in socialist society and appears in many descriptions as the compass device.
  • Wreath of rye: encircling the hammer and compass, a ring of stylized rye or grain represented farmers and agricultural production, completing the tripartite social symbolism.

History and context

The addition of the emblem in 1959 took place against the backdrop of the Cold War and competing claims to German nationhood. East German leaders sought visual markers of a separate socialist state. The emblem made the GDR flag visually and politically distinct from the Federal Republic of Germany's plain tricolor. The GDR continued to use the emblem-flag through the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s; the political changes of 1989–1990, including the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and formal reunification on October 3, 1990, brought an end to its official status.

Use, legacy and notable facts

The emblem-bearing flag flew at government buildings, schools, parades and sporting events when East Germany participated separately in international competitions. Since reunification the plain black-red-gold tricolor of a united Germany is the national flag; the GDR emblem is now a historical symbol often discussed in studies of Cold War iconography, German division and reunification. The emblemmed flag remains familiar in photographs, museum displays and historical exhibits dealing with 20th‑century German history.