Standard of the President of the German Democratic Republic
The standard of the President of the German Democratic Republic was the standard of the official GDR head of state from 1949 to 1960 . It was used as a motor vehicle flag. During this time Wilhelm Pieck assumed the office of president . After his death, the office of President of the GDR was abolished and replaced by the State Council of the GDR with a first chairman .
Development of the standard
The first standard of the President had the shape of a rectangular flag in the colors black-red-gold with the inscription "President" in yellow in the red stripe, and "DDR" (contrary to the official official abbreviation with dots) in the stripe below in black letters. The flag was surrounded by a stripe of yellow color. An original of the standard is in the German Historical Museum in Berlin.
From 1950 the standard was changed and now showed the inscriptions in Fraktur . Another change occurred in 1951 when a new standard was introduced, which was to be represented in the colors and with the symbols of the GDR . It is unclear whether this standard was ever used in practice, as there are no photos or illustrations. The same applied to the following standard, which could possibly have been equipped with the GDR symbol changed in 1953. Until 1955 the coat of arms of the GDR was only considered unofficial and could not be called a "coat of arms". Prime Minister Otto Grotewohl declared in 1951 that the current emblem of the GDR was "semi-official" and that any indication that it was the official coat of arms of the GDR had to be avoided. This was probably done in order not to torpedo all-German negotiations at the time and to create a “fait accompli” by declaring an official GDR coat of arms. With the final determination of the GDR coat of arms on September 26, 1955, the presidential standard was changed for the last time and from then on showed a square standard with a red background, which was bordered by a narrow border of black, red and gold stripes. The edge was finished with golden fringes.
| flag | date | designation | description |
|---|---|---|---|
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1949-1950 | Standard of the President of the GDR | The original of the standard was made of sheet metal, had a size of 18 × 25.5 cm and was accepted on November 18, 1949. |
.svg) |
1950-1951 | Standard of the President of the GDR | Contemporary photos show that the standard was made of textiles and was somewhat shortened compared to the previous model. The flag was introduced in mid-1950. |
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1951–1953 (?) | Standard of the President of the GDR (reconstruction) | Nothing is known about the dimensions of the standard. It is also unclear how the edge could have looked or how the GDR symbol was or should be integrated exactly. The emblem was introduced on January 12, 1950, the standard adopted on January 29, 1951. |
.svg) |
1953–1955 (?) | Standard of the President of the GDR (reconstruction) | The emblem of the GDR was changed on May 28, 1953 and already resembled the final coat of arms from 1955. There were differences in the white center and the opening of the circle. It is not known whether this standard was ever used. |
.svg) |
1955-1960 | Standard of the President of the GDR | The standard was in use until September 7, 1960, when Wilhelm Pieck died and the presidency was abolished. |
literature
- Andreas Herzfeld: The Rimann'sche Collection of German Car Flags and Car Stands , Volume 2, German Society for Flag Studies, Norderstedt 2009, ISBN 978-3-935131-09-4
- Andreas Herzfeld: Flags in the SBZ 1945–1949 , in: Der Flaggenkurier No. 29 (May 2009), German Society for Flag Studies
- Hormann / Plaschke: German flags, Edition Maritim, Hamburg 2006, ISBN 978-3-89225-555-0
Web links
Presidential Flags 1949-1960 East Germany (Engl.) On Flags of the world (FOTW)