German Imperial Army Flags

Last modified: 2000-01-07 by marcus wendel
Keywords: germany | german empire | eagle | iron cross | army |
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Extracted from Felddienst-Ordnung (Field Service Regulations, published 1905) by Al Fisher. This document was the Imperial German Army's standard operating procedures, as we'd call such a document today. The three flags are attached to a staff topped by a metal spear and have wire stiffener from the staff at the lower left corner and extending to the upper right corner. The pennant has a horizontal stiffener extending at the division between the black and white colors.

Staff of an Army Commander (Armee-Ober-Kommandos)

The text gives a 1:20 scale, which equates to a square about 78 cm if my math is correct.

This is the flag for a numbered army -- *Armee* being the German word for these major subordinate formations. The Army as a whole was *Heer* as in *Oberkommando des Heeres* (OHL -- the WW I German Army High Command). - Tom Gregg

General's Staff (Generalkommandos)

This flag appears to be that for the general staff [Generalcommandos] for cavalry formation and has a 2:3 format, which would work out to a 62x93 cm rectangle.

The *Generalkommando* flag was, I believe, used to designate corps and army detachments (*Armeeabteilungen*). This latter was a temporary tactical grouping placing one corps under the command and control of another corps. - Tom Gregg

Division staff (Stab einer Division)

This flag is a pennant, perhaps marking a division staff ]. The dimesions appear to be 62x100 cm.

Included were several flags, including Kaiser Wilheim, the king of Prussia, and flags for the monarchs of Wurttemberg, and Saxony:

Flags of Monarchs during the Second Empire

Kaiser Wilhelm

(See also: Emperor's flags.)

Standard of Monarch of Saxony

Standard of Monarch of Wurttemburg

The Second Reich Germany (1870-1918) was a strange "federal monarchy." Over the course of the 19th centrury, the Kingdom of Prussia grew to become the most powerful of the various German states. After Prussian victory over France in 1870, its position was strong to declare a German Empire (Reich) that included all of the German states outside of Austria. The King of Prussia was also the German Emperor (Kaiser); however, those other German states that had survived until 1870 as independent retained some of their former government structure, though subordinated to the overall Reich government. The monarchs of Saxony, Wurtemburg, and other monarchies retained their position and royal status. Even Republican city-states like Hamburg that were absorbed retained their "Free and Hanseatic City" designation, as they do to this day, although the monarchies were all abolished after WWI.
Josh Fruhlinger, 1997-03-27

Constitutionally, Imperial Germany was a federated empire. When the empire was founded in 1871 the King of Prussia, William I, was proclaimed German Emperor (*not* "Emperor of Germany, be it noted). However, he kept his position as King of Prussia, as did his successors, the short-lived Frederick III and finally William II.

The Iron Cross standard you posted is that of the German Emperor. As King of Prussia, he also had a quite similar one with a red field. As I recall, the central shield should be surmounted by a crown -- the German imperial version for the emperor's standard and the Prussian royal version for the king's standard. Also I believe that the eagles were slightly different -- that of Prussia being crowned with the cypher of Frederick the Great ("FR") on it's breast and that of Imperial Germany being uncrowned with the Prussian shield and eagle on it's breast. However, since your GIFs are based on an official source, I guess they can't be wrong, so perhaps the design was changed at some point.