The flag of Hamburg, a city and a federal land of Germany, is a white castle with three towers on red background.
The civil flag is usually produced in 2:3 ratio. This is also the ratio shown on the plate of the legal prescription, so one could argue that this is the prescribed ratio. However, it is also produced in 3:5, which is the more frequent ratio for German flags.
Other flags of Hamburg[]
The admiralty flag currently is flown over state buildings connected to the navigation, since the city has no warships.
Symbolism[]
The colors have been derived from the carnations, which the city presents at official occasions.
The red and white colors are typical for the member cities of the Hanseatic League.
History[]
The oldest seal with the castle dates from 1241. The first flag displaying the arms showed up about 1470 — this was most probably a red field with a red castle in a white escutcheon. After about 1623 the castle without an escutcheon was used, i.e. a red castle on white or a white castle on red. It was only in 1751, that the white castle on red was decreed as the Hamburg flag.
Nickname[]
- White Castle
- Weisses Schloss
Trivia[]
- White Castle Restaurants got its name from the white castle design on the Hamburg flag. The restaurant sells fast-food such as hamburgers, which eponymously originated from Hamburg.
References[]
States of Germany
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Baden-Württemberg | Bavaria | Berlin | Brandenburg | Bremen | Hamburg | Hesse | Lower Saxony | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | North Rhine-Westphalia | Rhineland-Palatinate | Saarland | Saxony | Saxony-Anhalt | Schleswig-Holstein | Thuringia |