In 1935, the Ministry of Defense was renamed the Ministry of War. Field Marshal General Werner von Blomberg became first Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. He held this position until 1938, when Hitler removed him from office. This square flag (approximately 3x3 feet) was used until 1938, when the Ministry of War was abolished and replaced by the Wehrmacht High Command.

Distorted Replica Flag

Modern elongated replicas of this flag (usually approximately 3x5 feet) are quite common.

This was the pennant of the Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces between 1938 and 1941. The most normal use of a pennant like this one was probably as a car flag for the vehicle being used by the Commander-in-Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces.

This square standard (approximately 3x3 feet) was Hermann Göring's personal standard as the Reichsmarschall of the "Greater German Reich" and used between 1939 and 1941. It was replaced by the new "Pattern 2" standard in 1941. The rank of Marshal of Germany (Reichsmarschall) was the highest military rank obtainable in the Third Reich.

Distorted Replica Flag

Modern flag manufacturers are selling this elongated 3x5 foot version of the backside.

This square flag (approximately 3x3 feet) was Hermann Göring's personal Reichsmarschall's Standard of the "Greater German Reich" and used between 1941 and 1945. It replaced the previous "Pattern 1" standard. Hermann Göring was named Reichsmarschall, which made him senior to all other Army and Luftwaffe Field Marshals

Distorted Replica Flag

Modern flag manufacturers are selling this elongated 3x5 foot version of the backside.

This was the German War Ensign of the Third Reich and used by all military forces of Nazi Germany. It was flown daily at all military installations, preferably at the entrance, otherwise near the guard room or staff building. It was introduced on November 7, 1935, the day the national military draft was begun in Germany. It was also used as a naval ensign by warships of the Third Reich.

This flag (with black, white and red background) was for a commanding general of a "Fliegerkorps," (Fighter Corps, or Fighter Wing) of the German Luftwaffe.

This was the Command Flag for the Chief of the Air Force General staff between 1937 and 1940. The original was actually a 3'x3' square, but the fantasy flag manufacturers have been busy reproducing this flag in elongated format.

Distorted Replica Flag

Similar to the flag of the Minister for Air Travel except for having a gold Luftwaffe eagle (with swastika, of course) at the center with wings overlapping into the red field, gold swastikas and a gold braid border and analogous change on the reverse. The original version of the flag was square.

Distorted Replica Flag

This questionable replica flag claims to be a based on one of the Luftwaffe parade standards that Goering used. This is supposed to be the back side of the standard and used by either a southern or Italian theatre command. Another possible source is the parade dress uniform buckles of the Herman Goering Panzer unit. Modern replica flag manufacturers have released it and mistakenly calling it the "German Blue Ruck" and even as a "Slavic Officers Flag" in the modern 3x5' format. No real proof can be found that it ever really existed.

This small flag was used as a car flag by the Commanding Generals of the German Air Force. Modern replica flag manufacturers have released it in the 3x5' format.

A flag used at pre-war Zeppelin bases and installations, and because the Zeppelin itself was already obsolete, the Zeppelin Corps became one of the shortest-lived German service branches of World War II. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the Luftwaffe ordered the last two Zeppelin airships moved to a large Zeppelin hangar in Frankfurt. In March of 1940 Göring ordered their destruction and the aluminum fed into the Nazi war industry. In May a fire broke out in the Zeppelin facility which destroyed most of the remaining parts. The rest of the parts and materials were soon scrapped with almost no trace of the German "Giants of the Air" remaining by the end of the year.

This was the German War Ensign of the Third Reich and used by the all military forces of Nazi Germany. It was flown daily at all military installations, preferably at the entrance, otherwise near the guard room or staff building. It was introduced on November 7, 1935, the day the national military draft was begun in Germany.

This Heer (Army) Infantry flag (the original was square) has at its center a white disk surrounded by a silver wreath and containing a black "Army type" (with wings directed downward) eagle grasping a black swastika similar to the eagle that frequently appeared on Army steel helmets.

The German Army standards were also sometimes swallow-tailed (split-tailed) with fringes, and their background color was used to indicate their branch of service. For example, white was used for infantry (as shown), pink for armor, black for engineers, and red for Artillery units.

Distorted Replica Flag

This square flag Command Flag was used by the Commander-in-Chief (Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres) of the German Army between 1935 and 1941.

This square flag Command Flag was used by the Commander-in-Chief of the German Army between 1944 and 1945.

Distorted Replica Flag

This was a flag supposedly placed on vehicles so that German planes could tell which were friendly, but according to German flag experts this particular flag is fictitious and a postwar invention that was never actually used by the German Armed Forces. The Germans did early in the war use signal drapes to identify German armour for the Luftwaffe, but they were simply the national flag with the swastika emblem. They lacked loops for hoisting having instead loops on all four corners making them suitable for fixing on tanks and even on the front deck of warships.

This square vehicle insignia for an Army Generalfeldmarschall's car (Hoheitszeichen eines Generalsfeldmarschalls des Heeres) was used as a car flag by German Heer (German Army) Field Marshals.

Distorted Replica Flag

This is the Flag for the Austrian "Hoch-und Deutschmeister' Grenadier-Regiment 134 which was first formed in 1938 Austria right after the successful occupation by Germany. This unit would take part in the Polish campaign of 1939, fight on the Western Front during 1040, and then be transferred to the Eastern Front in the spring of 1941. In May of 1942, it fought throughout the Caucasus, and then became involved in the disastrous fighting around Stalingrad in 1943, where it was almost completely destroyed. The survivors surrendered to the Russians.

This flag was for the Land Police Group "General Göring," which was later converted into a regular Army Infantry Regiment, but continued to use this flag. After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles had established a demilitarized zone in Germany that followed the Rhine River. No German military forces were permitted to enter this zone. This restriction did not apply to Police Units. When Hitler began rebuilding the German army, certain troops were called "Land Police" to get around this restriction, and stationed in the demilitarized zone. In March of 1936, the military forces of Germany reoccupied the demilitarized zone and the Landespolizei were converted into infantry battalions, but were allowed to keep their Land Police Colors.

Panzer units all used the color pink as their color designation, and the rational for the unusual use of a Luftwaffe type eagle on this army flag was that this division was named after the Reichmarshall Hermann Göring, and apparently one of the duties of the Division HG ("HG" for Hermann Göring) was to protect Luftwaffe ground installations and air fields from ground assault.

This was the flag used by all Imperial German warships between 1903 and 1919 and later briefly reintroduced between 1933 and 1935. It was replaced by the swastika type in 1935 (see below).

This was the German War Ensign of the Third Reich and used by the all military forces of Nazi Germany. War Vessels of the German Kriegsmarine (German Navy) flew the National War Flag.

This was the Naval Ensign of the Third Reich flown by all German registered mercantile ships at sea after 1935. It was identical to the German State flag design with one small difference. On the Naval Ensign the white circle was slightly off center and closer to the hoist.

This was the flag of the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, if not a Grand Admiral. This was sometimes referred to as the first pattern Command flag.

Erich Raeder was commander-in-Chief of the German Navy from 1928 to January 1943. He was promoted in 1936 to Grossadmiral. Karl Dönitz took Erich Raeder's place as Commander-in-Chief and as Grossadmiral in 1943.

Distorted Replica Flag

This is the flag (approximately 3x3 feet) of the Grand Admiral of the German Navy. This was sometimes referred to as the second pattern Command flag.

Erich Raeder was promoted to the rank of Grossadmiral in April of 1939. His served in this position until January of 1943 when he resigned his commission on grounds of ill health. His position was taken over by Karl Dönitz who held the position until the end of the war in Europe.

Distorted Replica Flag

This flag (approximately 3x3 feet) was used for the Inspector Admiral of the Navy of the Greater German Reich.

Admiral Erich Raeder was Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy from 1935 until 1943, and then appointed Inspector Grand Admiral of the German Navy in 1943, a rank he held until 1945.

Distorted Replica Flag

This questionable flag (still being researched) as the regiment flag of the SS Panzer Corps Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler which was a German Waffen-SS panzer corps that saw action on both the Western and Eastern Fronts during World War II.

Although this fantasy flag claims to be the flag of the Croatian SS-Handschar it is actually based on the emblem carried on the collar patches worn by members of this division. Historically this flag didn't exist, but the unit did.

The Den Norske Legion (DNL), was formed in 1941. Although originally this unit was promised to be fully Norwegian, with Norwegian uniforms, weapons, language and officers, it never was. Its main purpose was to join the Finnish forces in their fight against the Russians. The uniforms used were standard SS, but most men wore the Norwegian Lion instead of the SS runes. They also wore the Raven and St.Olav Cross on their sleeve, with a Norwegian flag on their upper arm. The German decals on the helmets were usually removed.

This flag, reported to be for the independent Dutch SS (renamed "Germanic SS in the Netherlands" in 1942), is questionable. The Germanic SS in the Netherlands was part of the NSB (National Socialist Movement). Although they were technically independent of the German SS, their goal was for Germany to completely annex both the Netherlands and Flanders. Because this flag uses a design commonly used on armbands and for recruiting posters, it is possible that it was used as a flag, but no real proof exists that it was.

The SS Heimwehr Danzig ("Home Defense of Danzig") Battalion was an SS unit established in the free city of Danzig, Poland, before the Second World War. It fought with the German army against the Polish Army during the invasion of Poland. After this it became part of the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf and ceased to exist as an independent unit. Basically, this impressive flag represented a unit that existed between July and November of 1939, then was absorbed into another larger unit, the SS-Totenkompf Division.

This flag is widely distributed, and claims to have been the flag of the Polish SS-Totenkompf Division, but no creditable documentation exists to back the claim. The unit was, however, very real.

The ROA was a group of predominantly Russian forces allied with Nazi Germany to fight the Soviets. In 1944, ten Russian Liberation Army divisions (750,000 men) were formed under the command of General Andrei Andreievich Vlasov. Previous to this, Vlasov had served in the Soviet Red Army and took part in the defense of Moscow, but after the failed German attempt to take the Soviet capital he was captured by the Germans, became disillusioned with the Soviets, and switched sides to take command of the ROA. He then fought on the side of the Germans against Soviets, but later once again switched sides, and came to the aid of the Czech insurgents supporting the Prague Uprising in 1945 against German occupation.

This was the German President's Standard used between the years 1933-1935. It was replaced by the "Standard of the Leader and National Chancellor" after Reich Chancellor Hitler ousted President Paul Hindenburg and assumed all important German leadership positions in 1935.

This was the flag of the German Minister of Defense between 1933 and 1935. The Minister of Defense was a cabinet post. In 1933, Major-General Werner von Blomberg rose to national prominence when he was appointed Minister of Defense in Adolf Hitler's new government. As Minister of Defense, Blomberg worked feverishly to expand the size and power of the army. In 1935, the Ministry of Defense was renamed to Ministry of War; Blomberg became the first Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. (see Wehrmacht Command for more information

This was the German State flag and ensign used between the years 1933-1935. Its design was based on an earlier Imperial Foreign Office Flag used between 1892 and 1919. It was replaced by the swastika type in 1935.

On land, this flag was flown over all non-military government facilities, e.g. post offices, police stations, etc. It basically replaced the previous State Flag for these uses on land.

This variant of the Nazi Party Flag with an Iron Cross in the upper corner was used as the merchant flag by all German non-military ships after 1935. This flag had the obvious title of "Handelsflagge mit dem Eisenen Kreuz" and was flown as both a national and mercantile flag at sea.

After 1936, it became compulsory for 10-18 year olds to join the Hitler Youth. The task of the boys section was to prepare the boys for military service. By 1936 the membership was 4 million. Some replicas of this flag incorrectly show a black frame around the diamond shape.

This is an example of a HJ Bannen (boys 14 to 18) regimental flag which used a horizontal striped background of red-white-red with a black eagle instead of white eagle of the DJ Jungbannfahne.

This DJ Jungbann (boys from age 10 to 14) flag is an example of a Hitler Youth Regimental Flag, The black background was used for the DJ troops.

Originally this flag design was used by the DJ Bannen (Boys), but in 1934 was "downgraded" to be used by the DJ Fahnlein (Girls). After 1936, it became compulsory for 10-18 year old girls to join the Hitler Youth. The task of the girls section was to prepared them for motherhood.

This was the Command Flag of the Chief of the National Order Police. The "Order Police" were the uniformed national civilian police organization of the Third Reich.

This is one version of the house flag of the German Order (uniformed) Civilian National Police.

Civilian flag of the German Hunting Society between 1934-1945. It was led by the Reichsjägermeister Hermann Göring. A sanitized version of this flag replaces the swastika with a cross after 1945.

 after 1945

The Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) was set up in Nazi Germany to combat unemployment through public works projects similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps of the United States. The RAD was formed in July of 1934 as the official state labor service. RAD members were to provide service for various civic, military and agricultural construction projects. Konstantin Hierl was its leader all through the organization's lifetime.

House flag of the
RAD Female Sections

The RAD was organized into divisions and sections with individual flags and banners for each unit (see below).

This is the flag of the "Andreas Bauriedl" Division, one of the units of the National Labor Service or RAD, which was the official national labor organization of the Third Reich. The purpose of the RAD was to foster national pride in German workers, German products, productivity, and workmanship. The original versions of these flags commonly had silver or gold fringes.

The "Horst Wessel" Division
Distorted Replica Flag

In December of 1938, Adolf Hitler placed all German Sports activities under the Nationalsozialistischer Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (NSRL), meaning the "Sports Office for the Third Reich." It controlled all sports in the Third Reich. It's director was called the Reichssportführer (the leader of German Sports) and he controlled all sports events in Germany, including the German National Olympic Committee. All other German sport associations gradually lost their freedom and were co-opted into the NSRL. The NSRL's leaders were Hans von Tschammer und Osten (1933–1943), Arno Breitmeyer (1943–1944) and Karl Ritter von Halt (1944–1945).

The emblem in the center of this so-called flag is an enlargement of a German tracksuit patch issued at German sponsored games held in 1944, which is only noteworthy because the Olympic games scheduled to be held in London that year were cancelled. The "Deutscher Sportausschuss Oberliga" or German Sports Association as part of the NSRL probably held these games in Berlin's "Olympiastadion" or Olympic Stadium where these patches or badges were awarded for different sporting achievements. The use of a black background on this fantasy flag is curious because most NSRL sport flags featured red backgrounds.