Our state symbols stand for the free democratic tradition of the Federal Republic of Germany. They help citizens identify with the state.

After the Second World War, the Federal Government and the Federal President of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany attached great importance to ensuring continuity with the Weimar Republic, which is considered to have been the first democracy in Germany.

For this reason, the Weimar Republic’s regulations and designs for the state symbols were almost completely and literally adopted by the Federal Republic of Germany. Like in the Weimar era, the designs of the federal coat of arms, the federal eagle and the federal flag are not regulated by law. Instead, they are presented or decreed by the Federal President. Article 22 of the Basic Law is an exception. It specifies the colours of the federal flag.

Germany’s federal flag

Article 22 (2) of the Basic Law stipulates that “the federal flag shall be black, red and gold.” This colour scheme has a long tradition. It symbolises unity, freedom and democracy.

The colours black and gold featured in coats of arms as early as the Middle Ages; later, red was also sometimes used. The black eagle on a gold field – with black, golden or red talons – featured already in the coats of arms of German emperors and kings. In the Middle Ages, red and white were the colours of the imperial flag. To this day, these colours are displayed in the coats of arms of the former Hanseatic cities.

For the proponents of a free and unified German national state, the black, red and gold flag became the symbol of political unity. At the Hambach Festival, some 25,000 democratically and nationally minded people – among them many students – rallied behind this flag in 1832.

On 9 March 1848, the German national assembly declared in Frankfurt (Main) that “Likewise, the federal colours will be taken from Germany’s past when the imperial banner was held in black, red and gold.”

However, in the years that followed, these colours disappeared more and more from the public scene. It was only with the adoption of the Weimar Constitution of 11 August 1919 that the colours of the German Pre-March Period were taken up again. Article 3 stipulates that “The Reich colours are black, red and gold.” However, between 1933 and 1945, article 3 of the Weimar Constitution was effectively suspended.

The Federal Republic of Germany upholds the traditional symbol of unity, freedom and democracy.

Coat of arms

The federal coat of arms displays a black eagle on a gold field, its head turned to the right and its wings spread but feathers lying flat, with a red beak, tongue and talons.

Germany’s heraldic animal: The eagle

The eagle is one of the world’s oldest state symbols and the oldest national symbol that still exists in Europe. Even the Roman emperors used the eagle as an emblem of their imperial sovereignty. With the imperial title, the Frankish rulers also adopted the eagle as a symbol of their power.

Throughout the history of the German Empire, the German kings were most of the time also emperors of the Holy Roman Empire. To symbolise this dual role, the eagle in the imperial coat of arms was two-headed with one head looking to the right and the other head looking to the left.

The Frankfurt National Assembly of 1848/49 also opted for the double-headed eagle because it aimed to create a single empire from the many German kingdoms and principalities. In 1871, the newly established German Reich chose the single-headed eagle with its head turned to the right as its imperial eagle.

The Weimar Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany

In contrast to the controversy about the flag, there was no such issue about the design of the coat of arms in the Weimar Republic. On 11 November 1919, it was determined that the Reich coat of arms was to display “a one-headed black eagle, its head turned to the right and its wings spread but feathers lying flat, with a red beak, tongue and talons. If the eagle is depicted without a border, the tips of the feathers are to be turned outward.”

In an announcement of 20 January 1950, Federal President Theodor Heuss adopted this wording, thus defining the coat of arms of the Federal Republic of Germany.

National anthem

The national anthem is one of the most well-known state symbols. It is sung at special ceremonial occasions and also at major sporting events.

Origin of the text and tune

Unlike the anthems of many other nations, Germany’s national anthem has a text and melody that developed independently of each other. The lyrics were written by August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 – 1874). The melody was composed by Joseph Haydn (1732 – 1809) as early as in January 1797.

The national anthem and the Basic Law

In 1949, the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany did not provide for a national anthem. However, the public want for a national anthem remained unbroken. On 2 May 1952, Federal President Heuss, in an exchange of letters with Federal Chancellor Adenauer, complied with the Federal Government’s request to recognise the Hoffmann-Haydn song as the national anthem. In that letter, however, Heuss expressly dispensed with a solemn proclamation of this decision.

It is, however, only the third verse of the Deutschlandlied that is protected as a state symbol, because this is the only verse that is sung at official occasions.

The national anthem since Germany’s reunification

In the process of German unification, there was a renewed discussion as to whether or not a new national anthem should be introduced. Federal President von Weizsäcker, however, decided that the third verse of the “Lied der Deutschen” by Hoffmann von Fallersleben with the melody composed by Joseph Haydn was the national anthem for the German people.

Text and tune of the national anthem

The text and tune of the national anthem are available on the website of the Deutsche Bundestag. (in German)