Imperial Germany National Flag 1871 - 1919.
This small cotton Imperial German flag is typical of flags used for private use. The black, white and red tri-band was retained as the national flag of the Empire in 1871. It had been previously used by the North German Confederation (1866-1871), a union of the Kingdom of Prussia and 21 other north German states. It combined the colors of Prussia (black & white) with the colors of the cities of the Hansiatic League (red & white).
The flag was acceptable to Prussian King William I, who was elevated to German Emperor, following the Franco-Prussian War. This occurred in 1871 after the southern German states completed the unification of Germany into the German Empire. The colors were also symbolic of the fact that this new German Empire had no association with the Austrian Empire.
The black-white-red color scheme would serve as the basis for most Imperial German flags until the end of the German Empire, in 1919, although the colors would remain popular even during the Weimar Republic (1919 to 1933).
Provenance: Acquired at auction, Property of the Army Ranger Museum Auction, 18 November 1997, Butterfields & Butterfields, San Francisco, CA.
Sources:
Flag of Germany, Wikipedia, 10 January 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Germany
German Empire 1871-1918, Flags of the World, 10 January 2012, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de1871.html
Smith, Whitney, Flags Through the Ages and across the World, McGraw Hill, New York, 1975.
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
