Flag of Nazi Germany
The flag of Nazi Germany, officially the flag of the German Reich, featured a red background with a black swastika on a white disc. This flag came into use initially as the banner of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) after its foundation. Following the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor in 1933, this flag was adopted as mandatory for use, while the national one was the black-white-red triband of the German Empire.
| Nazi flag, Swastika flag | |
| Use | National flag and ensign |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 3:5 |
| Adopted | 1935 |
| Relinquished | 1945 |
| Design | A horizontal flag featuring a red background with a black swastika on a white disc |
| Imperial Flag | |
| Proportion | 3:5 |
| Adopted | 1933 |
| Relinquished | 1935 |
| Design | A horizontal tricolour of black, white, and red |
On 15 September 1935, one year after the death of Reich President Paul von Hindenburg, the Nazi flag became the national flag of Germany. One reason for the change may have been the "Bremen incident" of 26 July 1935, in which a group of demonstrators in New York City boarded the ocean liner SS Bremen, tore the Nazi Party flag from the jackstaff, and tossed it into the Hudson River. When the German ambassador protested, US officials responded that the German national flag had not been harmed, only a political party symbol. The new flag law was announced at the annual party rally in Nuremberg in 1935, where Hermann Göring claimed the old black-white-red flag, while honoured, was the symbol of a bygone era and under threat of being used by "reactionaries".