Identification flag for German merchant ships

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Identification flag for German merchant ships
Merchant flag of Germany (1946–1949) .svg
Vexillological symbol : Trade flag? ?Historic flag
Aspect ratio: 3: 5
Officially accepted: November 12, 1946/17. January 1947
For comparison: signal flag for the letter C.

By order of the Allied Control Council in Control Council Act No. 39, the international signal flag of the letter "C" with a triangular cutout, the so-called C double stand , was determined on November 12, 1946 as the identification flag for German merchant ships . All German ships had to fly this flag from January 17, 1947 in the post-war period ( Germany 1945 to 1949 ). The flag was de facto replaced with the founding of the two German states in 1949.

history

The Control Council Act No. 39 , which all German and formerly German ships have to fly under the Allied Control Authority , was promulgated on November 12, 1946, came into force two months later, on January 17, 1947, and was in effect until the founding of the two German states.

As for the choice of the colors blue, white, and red, there is a theory that they represent the national colors of the Western Allies, the United States , the United Kingdom, and France . The colors that are most commonly used in national flags around the world can also be found in the Soviet naval flag .

However, after the Second World War there were also detection flags for Japanese ships, which were derived from the signal flag alphabet. An E-stander for ships from Japan, a D-stander for ships in the Ryūkyū Islands, which were then independently administered by Japan (until 1967, then a triangular white flag with the text "Ryukyus" in Latin and Chinese characters above the Japanese flag) and the Signal flag "O", where the yellow field has been replaced by a green one, for Japanese ships on their way to the United States.

  • Japanese ships

  • Ships from the Ryūkyū Islands

  • Japanese ships in American waters

Vexillological symbol? Federal Republic of Germany since May 23, 1949 and ? Flag of the GDR 1949–1959
Civil and service flags on land, commercial and service flags at sea Historic flag

The proclamation of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany on May 23, 1949 (Federal Law Gazette p. 1) set the provision through Article Art. 123 Paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article Art. 22 Paragraph 2 “The federal flag is black, red and gold . “De facto ineffective for the area of ​​the new state. This was previously confirmed by the letter of approval of the three military governors to the Basic Law of May 12, 1949. It was not formally repealed until 1958.

The German Democratic Republic also used the black, red and gold flag from 1949. The identification flag for German merchant ships was formally suspended by the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the dissolution of the High Commission of the Soviet Union in Germany on September 20, 1955. With the introduction of the new state flag on October 1, 1959, a new trade flag was also introduced . Before that, the GDR also used the black, red and gold flag without a coat of arms as a trade flag. With the new trade flag there was a smaller state coat of arms in the upper corner. In 1973 this trade flag was abolished and replaced by the state flag, which was thus the national and trade flag. This was valid until the end of the GDR on October 2, 1990.

  • Trade flag Historic flag? Trade flag of the GDR 1959–1973

  • Civil and service flags on land, commercial and service flags at sea Historic flag? Flag of the GDR 1959–1990

Legal text

The Control Council enacts the following law (Control Council Act No. 39 "Identification flag which all German and formerly German ships are to fly under the Allied Control Authority" of November 12, 1946):

Article I.
1. All German or formerly German ships that are subject to the Allied Control Authority must at all times, with the exception of the cases provided for in Article III, fly the Allied Control Authority's flag. This consists of the international signal flag "C", from which a triangle has been cut out as shown in the attached drawing (Appendix "A").
2. This flag is to be flown on the top of the mast or, in the case of ships without a mast, in the place determined by custom or custom; it is to be kept day and night and to be seen as a flag of recognition .
3. This flag is not to be shown as a show of honor and is not to be dipped in salute to warships or merchant ships of any nation .
4. No other identification flag may be flown by any of the ships covered by paragraph 1 of this Article.
Article II.
The provisions of this Act do not apply to seized ships sailing under the command or under the direct control of any of the occupying powers.
Article III.
Instead of flying the flag of the Allied Control Authority as prescribed in Article I, Paragraph 2, inland waterways vessels may have the colors of this flag painted on both sides of the ship as a distinguishing mark.
Each zone commander can, however, order that inland waterways vessels which operate exclusively in his zone are not obliged to carry an identification flag or an identification symbol.
Article IV.
1. The captain or anyone else who exercises the authority of a German or formerly German ship under the Allied control authority and who violates one of the provisions of Article I of this Act, will, irrespective of his possible criminal liability on the basis of other laws, prosecute himself before a court of the military government or a German court and can be punished with a fine of 300 to 10,000 RM .
2. In severe cases, the court can impose a prison sentence of up to five years; in addition, the fine provided for in paragraph 1 of this article can be recognized.
Article V.
This law comes into force two months after its promulgation.
Issued in Berlin on November 12, 1946.

The original texts of this law, written in the three official languages, are signed by Vasily Danilowitsch Sokolowski ( Marshal of the Soviet Union ), Joseph T. McNarney ( General ), Sholto Douglas ( Marshal of the Royal Air Force ) and Roger Noiret ( Lieutenant General ).

See also

literature

  • Official Journal of the Allied Control Council in Germany , p. 226

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Constitutions of the World: Control Council Act No. 39 , accessed June 28, 2014
  2. ^ Flags of the World: Provisional Civil Ensign (November 12, 1946 - August 14, 1950) , accessed November 10, 2014.
  3. ^ University of Leicester: The Journal of Transport History , p. 41, Manchester 1987
  4. ↑ 沖繩 船舶 旗 問題 （昭和 42 年 わ が 外交 の 近況） Okinawa Ships issue (Our diplomacy 1967) ( Japanese ) Retrieved December 8, 2007.
  5. ↑ 那覇 泊 港? 那覇 港? 全 琉 船舶 に 新 船舶 旗 掲 揚 1967 年 7 月 1 日 All Ryukyuan ships hold new civil ensign at Tomari port or Naha port in Naha, July 1, 1967 ( Japanese ) Archived from the original on August 1, 2009. December 2014.
  6. ↑ Flags of the World: Post World War II Ensigns (Japan) , accessed November 10, 2014.
  7. ^ Carr, Harold Gresham, Frederick Edward Hulme: Flags of the world , p. 200, London, New York 1956.
  8. ↑ Third law to repeal the occupation law of July 23, 1958 (BGBl. IS 540)
  9. ^ Ordinance on the introduction of a trade flag for the German Democratic Republic. From October 1, 1959