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State of Thuringia 1920-1935 (Germany)

Land Thüringen

by Marcus Schmöger
Flag adopted 1921, abolished 1935, readopted 1946, abolished 1952, readopted 1991

Civil Flag (Landesflagge)
State Flag 1920-1933 (Staatsflagge)
State Flag 1933-1935 (Staatsflagge)

See also:

Other sites:

Das Thüringer Landeswappen (The Thuringian Coat-of-Arms, German text only) showing the 1920-1933 and the 1933-1945 coats-of-arms, at the Thuringia Official Website

Civil Flag

Landesflagge

Horizontal bicolor white-red. Proportions 1:2, different from other German flags. In use 1921-1935, 1946-1952 and since 1991. Illustrated in Große Brockhaus 1928, vol.4, p.656.

Norman Martin, March 1998

State Flag 1920-1933

by Pascal Vagnat
Flag adopted 1920, abolished 1933

In 1920 (...) the new Land of Thuringia adopted a horizontally white-red flag. The flag of the authorities of the Land had the coat of arms ([blazon:] Gules, seven six-pointed stars Argent) in the white stripe in the canton.

Pascal Vagnat, 23 May 1999

State Flag 1933-1935

Staatsflagge

by Santiago Dotor
Flag adopted 15th August 1933, abolished 1935

I wonder if you could please help me identify a flag that was brought back by an American from the 6th Armored Division after World War Two. The flag is made of linen and is approx. 12 ft × 5 ft [3,66 m × 1,52 m]. The upper half is white and the lower half is red. In the left side of the upper white portion is a blue shield, with a lion made of red and white stripes, facing to the left, with a yellow crown and in his right hand a yellow swastika.

Eric Queen, 7 August 1999

This is the Staatsflagge (state flag) of Thuringia adopted on 15 August 1933 by the law about the emblems of the Land Thuringia and its public bodies and institutions. Published on the 24 August 1933. The law says, article 5, that the coat of arms of the Land (that is here the lesser coat of arms), shall be particularly put on: flags and in the canton on the white strip.

The greater coat of arms was used in square form on a white field as the standard of the authorities of the Land (minister-president, state minister[s?]). The minister[s?] used a white square flag bordered red (5 cm) with the lesser coat of arms in the middle. All the other authorities used a Wimpel [pennant] with the same colour, border and lesser coat of arms. The police and gendarmerie used the police star under the coat of arms.

Source: Gesetz über die Hoheitszeichen des Landes Thüringen und seiner öffentlich-rechtlichen Körperschaften und Anstalten vom 15. August 1933 in Gesetzsammlung für Thüringen, 24. August 1933.

Pascal Vagnat, 8 August 1999

The 1933 greater arms appears in the Thuringia official website's page about the evolution of the Thuringian coat of arms (image here). Using only the inescutcheon (i.e. the lesser arms) and with some minor editing (for instance the right front paw is white and I believe it should be red, following the barry Argent and Gules scheme of the rest of the lion) I have made an image of the 1933-1935 state flag of Thuringia.

I have assumed proportions 1:2, but I am not quite sure when did Thuringian flags start to use 1:2 instead of 2:3 or 3:5 — 1920? 1933? 1946? 1990? The above report by Eric Queen would suggest a 1:2 flag indeed.

Santiago Dotor, 21 March 2001