According to Section I no. 3 of the Directive concerning the German flags of 13 November 1996, the official flag of the federal authorities (federal institutions flag) “shall have the same horizontal stripes as the federal flag and shall bear the federal shield, shifted slightly towards the staff and overlapping both the black and gold stripes by one-fifth, with the eagle facing the staff; the proportion of the hoist to the fly of the bunting shall be 3:5”.

EU flag and federal institutions flag (Larger version opens in new window) Source: Protokoll Inland

If the federal institutions flag is used in the form of a banner, the federal shield shall be shifted slightly towards the staff, parallel to the vertical stripes, overlapping both the black and gold stripes by one fifth, with the eagle facing the black stripe.

It is important to note that the federal shield, not the federal coat of arms, is depicted on the federal institutions flag. While the federal coat of arms is described in the Announcement concerning the federal coat of arms and the federal eagle of 20 January 1950, there is no official text describing the federal shield. The design of the federal shield is based on the illustration accompanying the Directive concerning the German flags of 13 November 1996 as Annex 1.

Federal institutions flag flying from the stern of the Gorch Fock sailing ship (Larger version opens in new window) Source: BReg/Steffen Kugler Federal institutions flag flying from the stern of the Gorch Fock sailing ship

According to Section IV paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Federal Government Decree concerning flag displays at official buildings, all federal authorities and offices, including the Federal Employment Agency, shall display the federal institutions flag and – provided the technical prerequisites exist – the European flag; the other public-law corporations, institutions and foundations shall display the federal flag and – provided the technical prerequisites exist – the European flag.

By directive of the Federal President of 25 May 1956, the German naval forces ensign is the federal institutions flag in the form of a swallow-tailed burgee. The end of the flag farthest from the staff is swallow-tailed, with the vertex of the right angle centred in the middle of the red field. The distance from the vertex to the federal shield is somewhat less than the distance between the shield and the staff.

The flag of the federal postal service has not been used since the Deutsche Bundespost was privatized in 1994.