Editing Flag of Germany (section)

=== {{anchor|After World War II}} After World War II (1945–1949) ===
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After the defeat of Germany in World War II, the country was [[Allied-administered Germany|placed under Allied administration]]. Although there was neither a national German government nor a German flag, German ships were required by international law to have a national ensign of some kind. As a provisional civil ensign of Germany, the [[Allied Control Council|Council]] designated the [[International maritime signal flags|international signal pennant Charlie]] representing the letter C ending in a [[swallowtail (flag)|swallowtail]], known as the C-Pennant ({{lang|de|C-Doppelstander}}). The Council ruled that "no ceremony shall be accorded this flag which shall not be [[Flag dipping|dipped]] in salute to warships or merchant ships of any nationality".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fotw.info/flags/de1945.html#law |title=Law No. 39 of the Allied Control Commission |author=[[Allied Control Council]] |work=[[Flags of the World (website)|Flags of the World]] |date=30 November 1946 |access-date=26 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312195426/https://www.fotw.info/flags/de1945.html#law |archive-date=12 March 2008}} See Article 1 #3.</ref> Similarly, the [[Flag of Japan#U.S. occupation|Japanese civil ensign]] used immediately following World War II was the signal pennant for the letter E ending in a swallowtail, and the [[United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands#Flag|Ryūkyūan civil ensign]] was a swallowtailed letter D signal pennant. [[File:Flag of Germany (1946-1949).svg|thumb|right|2:3 {{FIAV|000100}} {{FIAV|historical}} The C-Pennant (1946–1949)]]

West of the [[Oder–Neisse line]], the German states were reorganised along the lines of the [[Allied Occupation Zones in Germany|zones of occupation]], and new state governments were established. Within the American zone, the northern halves of the former states of [[Free People's State of Württemberg|Württemberg]] and [[Republic of Baden|Baden]] were merged to form [[Württemberg-Baden]] in 1946. As its flag, Württemberg-Baden adopted the black-red-gold tricolour.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.verfassungen.de/de/bw/wuerttemberg-baden/wuertt-b46-index.htm |title=Constitution of Württemberg-Baden |work=Verfassungen der Welt |date=30 November 1946 |access-date=24 February 2008 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303233239/http://www.verfassungen.de/de/bw/wuerttemberg-baden/wuertt-b46-index.htm |url-status=live }} See Article 45 (in German).</ref> The choice of these colours was not based on the historical use of the tricolour, but the simple addition of gold to Württemberg's colours of red and black.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fotw.info/flags/de-wb947.html |title=Württemberg-Baden 1947–1952 (Germany) |work=[[Flags of the World (website)|Flags of the World]] |access-date=24 February 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312195401/https://www.fotw.info/flags/de-wb947.html |archive-date=12 March 2008}} Contains quotation from discussion of the constitution committee.</ref> Coincidentally, Baden's colours were red and yellow, so the colour choice could be mistaken for a combination of the two flags. In 1952, Württemberg-Baden became part of the modern German state of [[Baden-Württemberg]], whose flag is black and gold.

Two other states that were created after the war, [[Rhineland-Palatinate]] (French zone) and [[Lower Saxony]] (British zone), chose to use the black-red-gold tricolour as their flag, defaced with the state's coat of arms.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://verfassungen.de/de/rlp/rlp47-index.htm |title=Constitution of Rhineland-Palatinate |work=Verfassungen der Welt |language=de |date=18 May 1947 |access-date=24 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215024706/http://verfassungen.de/de/rlp/rlp47-index.htm |archive-date=15 February 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://verfassungen.de/de/nds/niedersachsen51.htm |title=Preliminary constitution of Lower Saxony |work=Verfassungen der Welt |language=de |date=13 April 1951 |access-date=24 February 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311105823/http://verfassungen.de/de/nds/niedersachsen51.htm |archive-date=11 March 2008 |url-status=dead}} See Article 1 #2.</ref> These two states were formed from parts of other states, and no colour combinations from these previous states were accepted as a new state flag. This led to the use of the black-red-gold for two reasons: the colours did not relate particularly to any one of the previous states, and using the old flag from the Weimar Republic was intended to be a symbol of the new democracy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de-rp.html |title=Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany) |work=[[Flags of the World (website)|Flags of the World]] |access-date=3 March 2008 |archive-date=10 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310234406/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/Flags/de-rp.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de-ni.html |title=Lower Saxony (Germany) |work=[[Flags of the World (website)|Flags of the World]] |access-date=3 March 2008 |archive-date=16 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080316010814/http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/de-ni.html |url-status=live }}</ref>