Flags of the Condor Legion
The flags of the Condor Legion were the flags and pennants used by the German association operating during the Spanish Civil War from mid-1936 to 1939 .
Motor vehicle flags
Since the Condor Legion was a top secret association of the German armed forces , it never appeared as such. Badges on vehicles and aircraft were chosen so that no connection to the Wehrmacht could be established. This also affected the flags and pennants used by the Legion. There was no common flag or other flag covering the whole legion; However, in order to be clearly identifiable by command flags during the fighting, a series of vehicle flags or pennants were introduced, in which the Spanish primary colors red and yellow predominated.
The commander of the Condor Legion received a 40x30 cm stand, which was quartered diagonally in triangles, above and below in yellow, left and right in red. In the upper triangle was the inscription "LEGION" in black Latin letters, in the lower one the inscription "CONDOR".
For the chief of staff, a 40x30 cm stand was introduced, each of which had red, yellow and red stripes in the same width. In the upper stripe was the inscription "Legion Condor", in the middle the inscription "CHEF", and in the lower one the designation "EM", which stood for Estado Mayor (German: General Staff). All inscriptions were also made in black.
In contrast to this stand, Wolfram von Richthofen, in his capacity as chief of staff, used his own stand from January to October 1937. This was also red-yellow-red stripes, but there were three gold-colored stars in the middle stripe. There were no inscriptions.
The commander of the artillery received the same stand, but with the black inscription "Legion Condor" in the middle.
Commander
Legion Condor
Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff
General v. Richthofen
Commander of the artillery
A 40x30 cm pennant was introduced for the commanders of the reconnaissance troops, the air defense department and the 1st air intelligence department . This was red-yellow-red stripes across and was labeled in black in the middle stripe. This was for the reconnaissance force "A88", for the air defense department "F / 88" and for the 1st air intelligence department "1./Ln-88".
Commander of the
reconnaissance force
Commander
Air Defense Division
Commander of
Air Intelligence
Department staffs were also given a pennant made according to the pattern weapon color-black-weapon color. In the middle, black stripe there was the name “Legion Condor” in white letters. Pennants were carried by the tank department (weapon color = pink), the flak cartillery (red), the air force (golden yellow), and the intelligence force (golden brown). However, the pennants were also used without the inscription "Legion Condor".
Department
staff tanks
Anti-
aircraft artillery department staff
Department
staff air force
Department
staff intelligence force
The flag of the Condor Legion
As already mentioned, for reasons of secrecy, no common legionary flag was initially carried. This only changed after the fighting was over, when General Franco presented a flag specially made for the Legion in Spain. It was first shown publicly during the parade in Barajas in April 1939. The flag, known as the “standard of honor”, was carried by the Condor Legion during the victory parade in Madrid on May 19, 1939 and at the closing parade in León on May 23, 1939. After the Legion returned to Germany, it was presented for the last time on May 31, 1939, at the parade of honor in Hamburg and the parade in Berlin on June 6, 1939. The Condor Legion was then disbanded, the flag was first displayed at the Unter den Linden memorial and finally brought to its planned final destination, the Aviation Ministry, on June 8, 1939. There it was displayed in the flag hall. When the Red Army took Berlin at the end of the war , numerous Wehrmacht flags, including that of the Condor Legion, were captured. It was taken to Moscow for the Victory Parade and then transferred to the Museum of the Red Army in Moscow, where it can be seen to this day.
description
The flag, made of silk, had a different left and right side. The flag was 53 cm wide and 52 cm high.
The left side showed a black, silver-rimmed Iron Cross placed in the center and placed on top of it a silver-colored Luftwaffe eagle. Underlying the iron cross were four yellow surfaces, starting from the center and widened outwards, which were supposed to represent a stylized propeller blade. These were separated from the red field with fine black and gold piping. There were four different symbols in the four corners of the flag. These were from the left, starting up a silver-colored Luftwaffe eagle clockwise, the coat of arms of Spain in the version of 1938, the silver-colored, black-rimmed letters "LC" (for Legion Condor) and the emblem of the Falange -party, five arrows from a yoke held , each in red.
The right side looked like a Spanish regimental flag. The 1938 version of the Spanish national coat of arms was applied to the Spanish national colors.
Three sides of the flag were decorated with gold-colored fringes that were 3.5 cm long. The flag was attached to a brown polished flagpole with the help of five loops, each 6 cm long. The uppermost loop was fixed to the pole with the help of a yellow-colored cord and a metal ring. The top of the flag consisted of a bronze-colored Luftwaffe eagle on a swastika. This had a wingspan of 24 cm and was 12.5 cm high. The base of the eagle showed two bronze-colored oak leaves. The 2 m long flagpole consisted of two parts, which were held together in the middle by a silver-colored sleeve.
With the help of a large bow and held by a yellow cord, two flag banderoles were attached to the top. One of the bands was tied in such a way that it formed ends 59 and 47 cm long. It was held in the Spanish colors of red-yellow-red, with the ends being decorated with 3.5 cm long gold-colored fringes. The second banderole was actually a piece of medal ribbon, as it was worn for the Spanish military medal. The ribbon of medals was white with narrow yellow edges, in the middle there was a yellow ribbon, which was bordered in narrow red on both sides. The ends of the medal ribbon were 26 and 28 cm long. The longer end was decorated with 28 mm long gold fringes, while the shorter side carried the Spanish military medal in silver.
literature
- Brian Leigh Davis: Flags & Standards of the Third Reich. Army, Navy and Air Force, 1933-1945. MacDonald et al., London 1975, ISBN 0-356-04879-9 .
- Brian L. Davis: Flags of the Third Reich (= Men-at-arms Series. 270 The World Wars ). Volume 1: Wehrmacht. Color plates by Malcolm McGregor. Osprey Military, London et al. 1994, ISBN 1-85532-446-6 .
- Andreas Herzfeld: The Rimann'sche collection of German car flags and car stands. Volume 1: Germany until 1945 (= contributions to German automobile history. 2). German Society for Flag Studies, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-935131-08-7 .