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Communist Party in Switzerland

image by M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

About the party
German-language flags
French-language flags
Italian-language flags
Historical pennant

See also:

About the Party

Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz (PdAS)
Parti suisse du Travail (PST)
Partito del Lavoro (PDL)

The communist party in Switzerland is the PdA/PST-POP/POP/PSdL. The party was founded in 1944 as successor to the KPS/PCS (Communist Party of Switzerland). Nowadays it is mainly active in the French-speaking parts and almost absent in the German-speaking parts. The party lost its last seat in the Federal parliament in 2011, but regained it in 2015.

One flag shows the party name and abbreviation in all languages (also including Romansh) in white on a red field under the Phrygian cap, outlined in white [1,2].
M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

German-language flags

image by M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

In the German-speaking part of Switzerland the party is known as Partei der Arbeit der Schweiz (PdAS = Party of Labour of Switzerland), or shortly Partei der Arbeit (PdS = Party of Labour). Currently, there are only three cantonal sections (in Zürich, Bern and Sankt Gallen).

A German language version, used in Zürich, shows the logo of the Zürich branch on a red field; this logo consists of a red star, black "Pd", red "A", and in base "Partei der Arbeit" in black; all outlined white [3,4].
M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

French-language flags

images by M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

The sections in the French-speaking parts are usually known as Parti suisse du Travail (PST = Swiss Party of Labour). However, the cantonal sections of Neuchatel and Jura are known as Parti Ouvrier et Populaire (POP = Workers and Popular Party); the section of Vaud is known as Parti Ouvrier et Populaire & Gauche en Mouvement (POP = Workers and Popular Party & Left in Motion). In Geneva, there is a group that separated from the PST under the name Party communiste genevois (PCG = Geneva Communist Party).
M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

In the French-speaking parts there are red flags with the inscription "Parti du Travail" in white [5,6], sometimes with the the Phrygian cap [7]. There are also at least two versions of a red flag with black Phrygian cap, black inscription "POP" and either black [8,9] or white [10] inscription "Parti Ouvrier et Populaire".
M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

images by M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

The section of Vaud uses a rather elongate flag, black with the logo; the logo is a waving red rectangular with the white inscriptions "POP" and "& GAUCHE EN MOUVEMENT" [11,12,13].
M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

images by M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

In Geneva, a simple yellow hammer and sickle, centered on a red field, is sometimes used [14].
M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

Italian-language flags

image by M. Schmöger, 5 December 2006

I found two flags of the Italian-speaking branch. The first shows the round logo (containing five red stars, one with yellow hammer & sickle, the party abbreviation PdL and the party name) in the center of a red field.
M. Schmöger, 29 November 2006

image by M. Schmöger, 5 December 2006

The second is a red flag with hammer & sickle in the fly canton (in white) and the inscription "PdL" (in white) in the center.

Source:
http://www.pdl.ch/images/rsgallery/original/44330.jpg
M. Schmöger, 5 December 2006

Another photograph showing the Italian version of the party flag: http://maxarifay.files.wordpress.com/2007/09/p_20070916_175233_pct.jpg.
M. Schmöger, 30 December 2007

image by M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

The section in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino was originally known as Partito del Lavoro (PdL = Party of Labour). This section has renamed itself to Partito Comunista (PC = Communist Party) in 2007, but was excluded from the Swiss party in 2015. A new section was founded in 2015 under the name Partito Operaio e Popolare (POP = Workers and Popular Party).

The PC uses a flag with a very large amount of red; only in the fly canton there is a small white field with the party name in red, adjacent to a hammer & sickle emblem in white; this thin upper part of the flag is divided from the remaining red part by a thin white line [15,16,17,18].

Another historical flag, seemingly from earlier decades, though, is red with the golden inscription "PARTITO TICINESE DEL LAVORO" (Ticinese Party of Labour) in the bottom part; the flag is fringed along its free sides [19].
M. Schmöger, 6 December 2015

References

Historical pennant

image by M. Schmöger, 8 December 2015

The collection of the "Schweizerisches Sozialarchiv" contains a historical pennant of the Zürich branch of the PdA. This is red, with a black octagon with the red inscription "STOP dem Rassismus" (= Stop racism). The pennant is obviously handmade; the collection record does not mention a date, I would date it tentatively to the 1970s/1980s.

[1] http://www.bild-video-ton.ch/bestand/objekt/Sozarch_F_Oa-0077-03
M. Schmöger, 8 December 2015