An embroidered heraldic banner of late 19th Century German origin.
This is typical of a high-quality, embroidered German heraldic banner for use by institutions, social groups and veteran's organizations. The obverse bears the white horse of Lower Saxony while the reverse bears the arms of the Duchy of Brunswick-Luneburg. Banners like this were widely used for parades on national holidays, feast days and folk festivals.
The white horse is associated with Westphalia. The obverse, in fact, displays the marshaled arms of Westphalia, with the white horse running on a red background. The reverse shows the marshaled arms of Brunswick, two golden yellow lions on a red background; and Luneburg, a white lion surrounded by strewn red hearts on a golden yellow field.
The mottos are "Mit Gott für Volk und Vaterland" which means "With God for the people and fatherland"; 'Immota Fides' or Always Faithful and 'Nec Aspera Terrent'; Undaunted by Difficulties. The flag has been dated from somewhere between 1879 & 1904, highlighting the probability that it is a veteran's banner from the Franco-Prussian War, that was a WWII GI Bring-back.
ZFC Significant Flag
Sources:
Coat of arms of Lower Saxony, Wikipedia, 17 November 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Lower_Saxony
Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Wikipedia, 17 November 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duchy_of_Brunswick-L%C3%BCneburg
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
