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Rhineland (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)

Landschaftsverband Rheinland

by Marcus Schmöger
Flag adopted (without coat-of-arms) 3 November 1954, first adopted for Rhineland province 1882

Description

See also:

Higher Communal Associations (Höhere Kommunalverbände, including Landschaftsverbände)
Rhineland Province 1882-1935 (Provinz Rheinland, Prussia)
Ruhr Region (Kommunalverband Ruhrgebiet, North Rhine-Westphalia)
County and Municipal Flags (North Rhine-Westphalia / Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany)

Description

Höhere Kommunalverbände (higher communal associations) in North Rhine-Westphalia are a difficult subject, as their territories partially overlap. The Landschaftsverband Rheinland is basically congruent with the borders of the former Prussian Rhineland province. The Landschaftsverband Rheinland has a flag prescribed in its statutes of 3 November 1954. Actually this is the flag formerly used by the Prussian province of Rheinland. It is a bicolour green over white, used with the arms in the centre. The arms are (blazon): Vert, a bend wavy Argent, on a chief Argent the Prussian eagle (Sable, armed Or). The flag is used for ceremonial occasions only, as the Landschaftsverband has introduced (17 May 2001) a new logo, that is also shown on the flags for everyday use. Although I have a picture of the logo, I do not know how the flag actually looks like.

Sources:

Dieter Linder, The "Höhere Kommunalverbände" in Germany, oral presentation during the 19th International Congress of Vexillology at York (23-27 July 2001) (with permission from the author)
Landschaftsverband Rheinland website

Marcus Schmöger, 15 October 2001

The statutes (Hauptsatzung) are available online here [including a large colour image of the arms]. The paragraph about the flag does not mention the arms, just the bicolour.

Stefan Schwoon, 16 October 2001

Stefan Schwoon is right in that the Hauptsatzung does not mention the bicolour with the arms. However, this is used de facto, as the use of the arms on the simple bicolour or triband is the quite usual way for authorities' flags in Germany. The mentioned Hauptsatzung (Hauptsatzung des Landschaftsverbandes Rheinland vom 19. Januar 1995; Gesetz- und Verordnungsblatt für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen 1995, p. 120 ff) reads:

§ 2
(1) Die Farben des Landschaftsverbandes Rheinland sind grünweiß.
(2) Die Flagge des Landschaftsverbandes Rheinland besteht aus zwei gleich breiten Querstreifen, oben grün, unten weiß.
(3) Das Wappen (...)
(4) Das Siegel (...)
(5) Die Gestaltung von Wappen und Siegel ergibt sich im Einzelnen aus den dieser Satzung als Anlage beigefügten Abbildungen.

My translation:

§ 2
(1) The colours of the Landschaftsverband Rheinland are green-white.
(2) The flag of the Landschaftsverband Rheinland consists of two equally wide horizontal stripes, top green, bottom white.
(3) The coat-of-arms (...)
(4) The seal (...)
(5) The details of the design of the coat-of-arms and the seal follow the illustrations attached to this statute as an appendix.

There is indeed only an illustration of the coat-of-arms and of the seal, but not of any flag in the Hauptsatzung.

Marcus Schmöger, 15 October 2001