Editing Flag of Germany (section)

=== Medieval period ===<!-- [[Holy Roman Empire]] links to here -->
{{see also|Flags of the Holy Roman Empire}}
{{multiple image
| align     = <!-- left/right/center -->
| header    = Banners of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]]
| width     = 150
| image1    = Heiliges Römisches Reich - Reichssturmfahne vor 1433 (Nimbierter Adler).svg
| caption1  = 14th century
| image2    = Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor with haloes (1400-1806).svg
| caption2  = 15th–19th century
}}

The [[Holy Roman Empire]] (800/962 – 1806, known as the ''Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation'' after 1512) did not have a national flag, but black and gold were used as colours of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] and featured in the imperial banner: a [[Coat of arms of Germany|black eagle]] on a golden background. After the late 13th or early 14th century, the claws and beak of the eagle were coloured red. From the early 15th century, a [[double-headed eagle]] was used.<ref name="HRE">{{cite web |url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de_roman.html |title=Holy Roman Empire |work=[[Flags of the World (website)|Flags of the World]] |access-date=26 February 2008 |archive-date=4 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604053116/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de_roman.html |url-status=live }}</ref>[[File:Flag of the Holy Roman Empire (1200-1350).svg|thumb|right|200px|{{FIAV|001000}} {{FIAV|historical}} [[War flag]] of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] (13th–14th century)]]The colours red and white were also significant during this period. When the Holy Roman Empire took part in the [[Crusades]], a [[war flag]] was flown alongside the black-gold imperial banner. This flag, known as the "Saint George Flag", was a white cross on a red background: the reverse of the [[St George's Cross]] used as the [[flag of England]], and similar to the [[flag of Denmark]].<ref name="HRE" />{{multiple image
| align     = left
| header    = Early [[Hanseatic flags]]
| width     = 100
| image1    = Hanse Lübeck.svg
| caption1  = [[Lübeck]]
| image2    = Hanse Hamburg.svg
| caption2  = [[Hamburg]]
}}Red and white were also colours of the [[Hanseatic League]] (13th–17th century). Hanseatic trading ships were identifiable by their red-white pennants, and most Hanseatic cities adopted red and white as their city colours (see [[Hanseatic flags]]). Red and white still feature as the colours of many former Hanseatic cities such as [[Hamburg]] or [[Bremen]].