Editing Flag of Germany (section)

=== Proposed designs ===
<gallery>
File:Proposed flag of Germany (Robert Lehr).svg|alt=|Design by Robert Lehr (1948)
File:Proposed flag of Germany (Paul Wentzcke).svg|alt=Flag was proposed but never officially adopted|"Republican Tricolour" by Paul Wentzcke (1948)
File:Flag De Redslob.svg|alt=|Draft by Edwin Redslob (1948)
</gallery>{{multiple image
| align     = 
| direction = horizontal
| footer    = {{FIAV|proposal}} [[Wirmer Flag|The left flag]] is a variant of [[Josef Wirmer]]'s "Resistance" design (1944), created by his brother Ernst. [[Wirmer_Flag#Proposed_national_flag_of_the_Federal_Republic_of_Germany|The right flag]] was proposed by conservative parties as a flag for West Germany (1948).
| image1    = German Resistance Flag Proposal 1944.svg
| width1    = 150
| caption1  =
| image2    = Proposed German National Flag 1948.svg
| width2    = 125
| caption2  =
}}
[[File:Flag of German Democratic Republic.svg|thumb|left|200px|3:5 {{FIAV|110110}} {{FIAV|historical}} Flag of [[East Germany]] (1959–90)]]
[[File:Flag of East Germany with cut out emblem.svg|thumb|left|200px|3:5 {{FIAV|110110}} {{FIAV|historical}} Following the reunification of Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall, many Germans cut out the emblem of East Germany.]]
[[File:Flag of German Olympic Team 1960-1968.svg|thumb|right|200px|upright=0.5|Flag of the [[United Team of Germany]], as used from the 1960 to 1968 Olympics]]

While there were other suggestions for the new flag for West Germany,<ref name="proposals">{{cite web |url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de!1949.html |title=Proposals 1944–1949 (Germany) |work=[[Flags of the World (website)|Flags of the World]] |access-date=24 February 2008 |archive-date=1 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180101031657/http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/de!1949.html |url-status=live }}</ref> the final choice was between two designs, both using black-red-gold. The [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democrats]] proposed the re-introduction of the old Weimar flag, while the conservative parties such as the [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|CDU]]/[[Christian Social Union of Bavaria|CSU]] and the [[German Party (1947)|German Party]] proposed a suggestion by Ernst Wirmer, a member of the {{lang|de|[[Parlamentarischer Rat]]}} (parliamentary council) and future advisor of chancellor [[Konrad Adenauer]]. Wirmer suggested a variant of the 1944 "Resistance" flag (using the black-red-gold scheme in a [[Nordic Cross flag|Nordic Cross]] pattern) designed by his brother and [[July 20 Plot|20 July]] co-conspirator Josef.<ref name="proposal1944">{{cite journal |last=Rabbow |first=Arnold |date=May–August 1983 |title=A Flag Against Hitler. The 1944 National Flag Proposal of the German Resistance Movement |journal=Flag Bulletin |volume=100}}</ref> The tricolour was ultimately selected, largely to illustrate the continuity between the Weimar Republic and this new German state. With the enactment of the [[Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany|(West) German constitution]] on 23 May 1949, the black-red-gold tricolour was readopted as the flag for the Federal Republic of Germany.<ref name="constitutionDE"/>

In 1955, the inhabitants of the French-administered [[Saar Protectorate]] voted to join West Germany.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ena.lu/saar-referendum-23-october-1955-022100041.html |title=The Saar referendum |work=European Navigator |date=23 October 1955 |access-date=24 February 2008 |archive-date=11 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311132612/http://www.ena.lu/saar-referendum-23-october-1955-022100041.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since its establishment as a separate French protectorate in 1947, the Saar had a [[Flag of Saarland|white Nordic cross on a blue and red background]] as its flag.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.documentarchiv.de/de/saar/saarland47-index.htm |title=Constitution of the Saarland |work=documentArchiv.de |date=15 December 1947 |language=de |access-date=24 February 2008}} See Article 61.</ref> To demonstrate the commitment of the Saar to be a part of West Germany, a new flag was selected on 9 July 1956: the black-red-gold tricolour defaced with the new [[Coat of arms of Saarland|coat of arms]], also proposed on this day.<ref>{{in lang|de}} Government of the Saarland (9 July 1956) {{lang|de|Gesetz Nr. 508 über die Flagge des Saarlandes}} and {{lang|de|Gesetz Nr. 509 über das Wappen des Saarlandes}}.</ref> This flag came into force on 1 January 1957, upon the establishment of the [[Saarland]] as a state of West Germany.
[[File:National Committee for a Free Germany logo.svg|thumb|177x177px|Logo of the [[National Committee for a Free Germany]] used the [[Flag of the German Empire|Reichsflagge]]]]
While the use of black-red-gold had been suggested in the Soviet zone in 1946, the Second People's Congress in 1948 decided to adopt the old black-white-red tricolour as a national flag for East Germany. This choice was based on the use of these colours by the [[National Committee for a Free Germany]],<ref name="proposals"/> a German anti-[[Nazism|Nazi]] organisation that operated in the [[Soviet Union]] in the last two years of the war. In 1949, following a suggestion from [[Friedrich Ebert, Jr.]], the black-red-gold tricolour was instead selected as the flag of the German Democratic Republic upon the formation of this state on 7 October 1949.<ref name="DDRconst">{{cite web |url=http://www.documentarchiv.de/ddr/verfddr1949.html |title=Constitution of the German Democratic Republic |work=documentArchiv.de |date=7 October 1949 |access-date=24 February 2008 |language=de |archive-date=30 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191130042244/http://www.documentarchiv.de/ddr/verfddr1949.html |url-status=live }} See Article 2.</ref> From 1949 to 1959, the flags of both West and East Germany were identical. On 1 October 1959, the East German government changed its flag with the addition of [[Coat of arms of East Germany|its coat of arms]].<ref name="DDR1959">{{cite web |url=http://www.documentarchiv.de/ddr/1959/ddr-staatswappen-staatsflagge-aender_ges.html |title=Gesetz zur Änderung des Gesetzes über das Staatswappen und die Staatsflagge der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik |language=de |author=Government of the German Democratic Republic |work=documentArchiv.de |date=1 October 1959 |access-date=24 February 2008 |archive-date=13 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113012908/http://www.documentarchiv.de/ddr/1959/ddr-staatswappen-staatsflagge-aender_ges.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In West Germany, these changes were seen as a deliberate attempt to divide the two Germanies. Displaying this flag in West Germany and West Berlin—where it became known as the {{lang|de|Spalterflagge}} (divider-flag)—was seen as a breach of the constitution and subsequently banned until the late 1960s.

From 1956 to 1964, West and East Germany attended the [[Winter Olympic Games|Winter]] and [[Summer Olympic Games]] as a single team, known as the [[United Team of Germany]]. After the East German national flag was changed in 1959, neither country accepted the flag of the other. As a compromise, a new flag was used by the United Team of Germany from 1960 to 1964, featuring the black-red-gold tricolour [[Defacement (flag)|defaced]] with white [[Olympic rings]] in the red stripe. In 1968 the teams from the two German states entered separately, but both used the same German Olympic flag. From 1972 to 1988, the separate West and East German teams used their respective national flags.{{clear}}