Information on flag displays
Article Flag Displays
Helpful tips in our photo galleries
It’s easy to make mistakes when displaying flags – flying the wrong flag, or flying the right flag the wrong way. In our photo galleries, we explain the correct way to display the flag and how to avoid mistakes.
A closer look ...
The European flag (Part 1)
In the photo at far left, the European flag is properly hoisted. The flag on the right in the same photo, however, is upside down, as you can see from the stars. The flag in the photo below does not conform to official requirements: The top points of the five upper stars point upwards, while those of the seven lower stars point downwards. In the third photo, the stars are positioned correctly, but the appliqué on the vertical flag makes it look as though the stars are surrounded by a dark ring.
Common mistakes
Unofficial “federal coat of arms flag” as home décor (Part 1)
The federal institutions flag is a special type of federal flag which bears the federal shield. All federal offices are to display the federal institutions flag. Other persons or organizations flying the federal institutions flag constitutes an administrative offence under Section 124 of the Act on Administrative Offences. The same applies to flags bearing the federal eagle which may be confused with the federal institutions flag, such as the federal flag bearing the federal coat of arms. The risk of confusion is defined as existing when, at a three-second glance, neutral third parties receive the impression that the site where such a flag is being flown is a federal building or that official activity is being conducted. Eagle flags that are clearly works of imagination may be used without fear of violating the law.
Information for indivuals and businesses
Federal flags displayed on homes and cars
Private displays of the federal flag (black-red-gold, no eagle) are provided for in the Basic Law and constitutionally protected under Articles 2 and 5. Individuals are allowed to display the federal flag, as long as they show proper respect for it as a state symbol. Apart from Section 1 (1) of the Flag Act of 8 February 1951 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 79) as promulgated on 26 October 1994 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 3140) stating that all merchant ships and ocean-going vessels in German ownership and registered in the territory in which the Basic Law applies, citizens are not required to display the flag and are not subject to regulations on how to display the federal flag.
Whether permanent flag displays on house façades, windows or on cars are in fact appropriate, however, must be decided in the individual case.
