East Germany Flag

Facts about the Flag of East Germany Flag

1. The flag was the ordinary German tricolour until 1959, when a state emblem of a hammer and compass inside a ring of rye was added to distinguish it from West Germany's.
2. During the 1989 demonstrations the emblem was cut out of flags, leaving a hole in the centre — the same protest that had appeared in Hungary in 1956 and would appear in Romania later that year.
3. The flag of the German Democratic Republic from 1959 until reunification in 1990.
4. The flag belongs to the German Democratic Republic. It is used in Central Europe.
5. It was founded on 7 October 1949.
6. It is based in East Berlin.
7. It was used until German reunification on 3 October 1990.
8. The flag was adopted in October 1, 1959.
9. The design is 67 years old as of 2026.
10. Construction: German tricolour with the state emblem.
11. It is normally drawn to a ratio of 3:5, which makes it rectangular.
12. The flag uses 3 colours: black, red and gold.
13. The black stands for the German national colours.
14. The red stands for the German national colours.
15. The gold stands for the German national colours.
16. Hammer, compass and rye wreath: Workers, the intelligentsia and farmers, the three groups the state claimed to unite.
17. It was identical to the West German flag until 1959, when the hammer, compasses and rye wreath were added.
18. It is filed here under Historical Flags, one of the categories of flag that belong to no country.