GDR ENSIGNS & FLAGS

GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

ENSIGNS, SERVICE FLAGS & STANDARDS

1949-90

Image Added July 2003

Naval Commissioning Pennant

Notes

The Deutsche Demokratische Republik (German Democratic Republic or DDR) was formed in 1949 from the Soviet sector of occupied Germany. The historic black-red-gold tricolor of 1848, which had also been used by the Weimar Republic from 1919 to 1933, was adopted as the flag of the new state. In 1959, however, the arms of the DDR were added to distinguish it from the flag of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany).

As a Soviet satellite, the DDR's foreign and domestic policies were largely dictated by the Soviet Union, and there was much popular unrest. Not surprisingly, therefore, the first armed force raised by the new state was the Deutsche Volkspolizei (German People's Police or DVP), responsible for both internal order and border control. Service flags for the DVP and the DVP Border Guard were introduced about 1950; they were black-red-gold tricolors with a "police star" in the center containing a shield striped in the national colors. The DVP Special Troops was a paramilitary force similar to the "barracks police" of the Nazi era; its grim task was the maintenance of internal order and its standard was a plain black-red-gold tricolor with a gold fringe. With the introduction of the 1959 national flag, the police flags were revised to display the state arms within the star.

After the adoption of the revised national flag in 1959, new flags and ensigns were introduced for the Nationale Volksarmee (National People's Army) and the Volksmarine (People's Navy). They all featured the arms of the state, usually within a laurel wreath. The border guard function seems to have been transferred from the police to the armed forces at this time, leading to the adoption of a distinctive flag of the Border Guard Brigade of the Army and a distinctive ensign for the Border Guard Flotilla of the Navy.

Both the DVP and the NVA had fringed standards (colors); these were similar to the service flags, but with the addition of the motto Für den Schutz der Arbeiten und Bauern Macht ("For the Defense of the Workers' and Peasants' Power").

All these flags were abolished in 1990 when the DDR itself was abolished and incorporated into the Federal Republic of Germany.

Flag Proportions: Most GDR flags and ensigns were made in the traditional German 3:5 proportions.