Flag of Germany
Officially Federal Republic of Germany
Locally Deutschland
What the flag looks like
Three equal horizontal stripes of black, red and gold.
What it means
The colors trace back to the black uniforms with red trim and gold buttons of the Lützow Free Corps in the Napoleonic Wars, and became the colors of German democracy and unity in 1848.
How to remember it
Germany
stacks black, red and gold horizontally with black on top; Belgium
stands black, yellow and red upright.
Fun facts
- Supporters of a united, democratic Germany waved black-red-gold at the Hambach Festival in 1832.
- East Germany used the same tricolor with a hammer-and-compass emblem added from 1959 until reunification in 1990.
Germany at a glance
- Capital
- Berlin
- Region
- Western Europe
- Population
- 84 million
- Area
- 357,114 km²
- Languages
- German
- Currency
- Euro (€)
- Flag adopted
- 1949
Flags often confused with Germany
- Belgium: Belgium and Germany both use black, yellow/gold and red. Belgium's stripes are vertical (black, yellow, red); Germany's are horizontal (black, red, gold).