Editing Flag of Germany (section)

== Origins ==
The German association with the colours [[black]], [[red]], and [[gold (color)|gold]] surfaced in the radical 1840s, when the black-red-gold flag was used to symbolise the movement against the [[Conservative Order]], which was established in [[Europe]] after [[Napoleon|Napoleon's]] defeat.

There are many theories in circulation regarding the origins of the colour scheme used in the 1848 flag. It has been proposed that the colours were those of the Jena Students' League ({{lang|de|Jenaer Burschenschaft}}), one of the radically minded {{lang|de|[[Burschenschaft]]en|italic=no}} banned by {{lang|de|[[Metternich]]|italic=no}} in the [[Carlsbad Decrees]]. The colours are mentioned in their canonical order in the seventh verse of [[August Daniel von Binzer]]'s student song {{lang|de|[[Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus|Zur Auflösung der Jenaer Burschenschaft]]}} ("On the Dissolution of the Jena Students' League") quoted by {{lang|de|[[Johannes Brahms]]|italic=no}} in his ''[[Academic Festival Overture]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ingeb.org/Lieder/wirhatte.html |title=Zur Auflösung der Jenaer Burschenschaft / Wir hatten gebauet ein stattliches Haus free midi mp3 download Strand Hotel Sechelt bed breakfast |website=ingeb.org |access-date=21 September 2016 |archive-date=28 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428065848/http://ingeb.org/Lieder/wirhatte.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Another claim goes back to the uniforms (mainly black with red facings and gold buttons) of the [[Lützow Free Corps]], which were mostly worn by university students and were formed during the struggle against the occupying forces of Napoleon. Whatever the true explanation, those colours soon came to be regarded as the national colours of Germany during that brief period. Especially after their reintroduction during the [[Weimar period]], they became synonymous with [[social liberalism|liberalism]] in general.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://everythingaboutgermany.com/germany-country-information/the-flag-of-germany/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629012856/http://www.everythingaboutgermany.com/Germany-Flag.html |url-status=dead |title=The Flag of Germany |first=The German |last=Tourists |date=25 August 2011 |archive-date=29 June 2010 |website=Germany Tourism and Travel by Everything about Germany}}</ref> (The colours also appear in the medieval {{lang|de|[[Reichsadler]]}}.)