Trade flag

Vexillological symbol for trade flags according to W. Smith

The trade flag is the flag that is hoisted as the national flag by merchant ships and other privately owned ships . An outdated name for the trade flag is Kauffahrteiflagge .

Alongside the war flag, the trade flag is one of the two original versions of the national flag. In most countries, all ships originally flied the same flag, regardless of whether they were privately or state-owned, and regardless of whether they were armed or unarmed. In the course of time, however, in many countries (initially Great Britain in particular ) a distinction developed between the flag for the armed ships of the state (the navy and other armed forces) and the flag for private, unarmed ships. Some countries, such as B. France and the USA still have only one flag for all purposes of shipping (national flag).

Today the merchant flag is the flag for all ships registered in a country , unless they are authorized to fly a different flag. The right to use them is given by a state flag certificate .

The German trade flag

The German trade flag is the simple federal flag (black-red-gold). As such it has been used in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1950 and in reunified Germany since 1990.

Trade flag of Germany

Historic German trade flags

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  Germany
  1848–1849

• 

  North German Confederation 1867–1871

• 

  German Empire
  1871–1919

• 

  German Empire
  (from 1896 for ships whose captains were former naval officers)

• 

  Weimar Republic 1919–1933

• 

  Weimar Republic (alternatively from 1921 for ships whose captains were former naval officers)

• 

  German Empire
  1933–1935

• 

  German Empire
  1935–1945

• 

  Occupation zones
  1946–1949 / 1950 ( identification flag for German merchant ships )

• 

  Federal Republic of Germany and
  GDR
  1949–1959

• 

  GDR
  1959–1973

• 

  GDR
  1973–1990

The Austrian trade flag

The trade flag of Austria has been the Austrian federal flag red-white-red in the proportions 2: 3 since 1919 . It is carried by both seagoing and inland waterway vessels.

Trade flag of Austria

Historic Austrian trade flags

• 

  Austria
  1786–1869

• 

  Austria-Hungary 1869–1918

The trade flag of Switzerland

As a landlocked country, Switzerland had no maritime shipping and therefore no special trade flag until the Second World War. The inland waterway vessels carried (and mostly still carry today) the flag of Switzerland in a square format. For the few seagoing ships, a flag in the proportions 2: 3 was introduced in 1941.

Trade flag of Switzerland (seagoing ships and partly inland waters)	Trade flag of Switzerland (inland waters)

Trade flags of other countries

In many countries the trade flag is identical to the general national flag , e.g. B. in France , the USA , Russia , the Netherlands .

Trade flags , which differ from the general national flag , can be divided into five categories:

• British-style Red Ensigns , d. H. red flags with (mostly) the respective national flag in the Obereck. This model is used across a number of former British colonies. The trade flags of territories that are still British colonies today are Red Ensigns with the respective coat of arms in the flying end.
• Trade flags that differ significantly from the national flag, e.g. B. Malta or Luxembourg.
• National flags with an additional emblem, e.g. B. the Polish coat of arms or the inscription DIOS UNION LIBERTAD in the Salvadoran merchant flag.
• Simplified national flags, d. H. the simpler execution of the national flag without the national coat of arms. In many Latin American states, it is the practice to use the simpler flag as a trade flag (and in some cases also the civil flag on land), while state agencies and the military use the version with the coat of arms.
• Commercial flags that differ only in proportions from the national flag: some former British colonies use the proportions 3: 5 for flags on land, but 1: 2 on the sea; in the successor states of Yugoslavia it is the other way round, there is 2: 3 on the sea and 1: 2 on land.

Red Ensigns based on the British model

United Kingdom		guernsey	Isle of Man	jersey
Brit. Virgin Islands	Falkland Islands	Gibraltar	Cayman Islands	Turks- u. Caicos Islands
Australia	Bahamas	Bangladesh	Fiji	Ghana	India	Malaysia
Nigeria	Mauritius	New Zealand	Pakistan	Solomon Islands	Sri Lanka	UAE

Clearly different from the national flag

Albania	Israel	Luxembourg	Malta	Singapore

National flag with an additional emblem

El Salvador	Italy	Colombia	Morocco	Poland	Saudi Arabia	Taiwan

Simpler execution of the national flag

Andorra	Argentina	Bolivia	Costa Rica	Dominican Rep.	Ecuador
Guatemala	Haiti	Peru	San Marino	Serbia	Spain	Venezuela

Different from the national flag only in the proportions

Belgium	France	Grenada	Guyana	Croatia	Switzerland	Slovenia	Trinidad and Tobago

Remarks

1. ↑ With the flag order of May 20, 1951, Lake Constance ships carry the flag hoisted at the stern in a rectangular shape.
2. ↑ The Red Ensign without further emblem is also used in Jersey , Anguilla , BIOT , Montserrat , Pitcairn Islands , St. Helena
3. ↑ the national flag of Australia is carried by smaller ships
4. ↑ The national flag of the UAE is also reported as the trade flag
5. ↑ The national flag of Morocco is also reported as the trade flag
6. ↑ The national flag of Taiwan is also reported as the trade flag
7. ↑ The flag of Spain with a coat of arms is also used as a trade flag
8. ↑ the Swiss flag in a square format is used on most inland waters

literature

• Smith, Neubecker: coats of arms and flags of all nations . Munich 1981, ISBN 3-87045-183-1

Web links

Commons : Trade Flags  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Flags of the World (English)