A German naval jack featuring a late 19th Century design.
Weimar Germany Naval Jack - 1918 to 1933
After WWI a new government came to power in Germany. The Weimar Republic lasted for a scant 15 years from 1918 to 1933. The short-lived government drew its inspiration for flags and symbols from the German past.
This 20th century flag featuring a late 19th Century design. When the Second Reich (empire) was established in 1870, the 1867 flag, ensign and jack that had been used by the North German Confederation became the national flags of Germany.
The national flag had equal horizontal stripes of black, white, and red corresponding to the "blood and iron" policy of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck who had designed it. These continued to be the national colors of Germany until 1919 and they were featured in most German flags of that era.
This jack, a small flag worn in the bows of warships, was the national flag defaced with the quintessential German symbol, the Iron Cross. The Iron Cross is also known, erroneously, as the Maltese cross, but it was originally a decoration demonstrating military prowess awarded by the Prussian monarchy. Later King Frederick William III of Prussia adopted the use of the Iron Cross for the German Military forces; first awarding it on the 10th of March in the year 1813. It continued to be awarded to the German military throughout all major wars of the late 19th Century and up until the mid-20th, including the Napoleonic, the Franco-Prussian and both World Wars.
The Iron Cross originally was the symbol of the Teutonic Knights, a heraldic cross patte, and the cross design - but not the specific decoration - has been the symbol of Germany's armed forces, the Bundeswehr since ca. 1870.
The text on tag attached to the hoist reads: ""GOSCH" 1.5X2.25 Z2REPARIERF" and on the reverse: "550". Additionally, the hoist bears an inspection mark, the uncrowned eagle symbol of the Weimer Republic.
This is a naval jack, hence the marking Gosch (possibly for a capital ship) to be flown at the bow, when it was acquired through a military dealer in Hamburg, Germany in 1997 it was reported to have been used in the 1930s.
It would serve as the German Naval Ensign from 1933 to 1935.
ZFC Significant Flag
Sources:
Blood and Iron, Wikipedia, 17 November 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_and_Iron_%28speech%29
German Empire, Wikipedia, 17 November 2011, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Empire
Jack 1871-1918 (Germany), Flags of the World, 17 November 2011, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de1871~j.html#1871
Iron Cross, Wikipedia, 17 November 2011, from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Cross
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
(Formerly in the German Sub-collection.)
