Flag of East Germany

German Democratic Republic

Flagge der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik
Use	National flag and ensign
Proportion	3:5
Adopted	1 October 1959; 64 years ago (1959-10-01)
Relinquished	3 October 1990; 33 years ago (1990-10-03) (unification)
Design	A horizontal tricolour of black, red, and gold, adorned with the National emblem of East Germany.

Like the flags of the Weimar Republic, West Germany, and present-day Germany, the flag of East Germany, the German Democratic Republic, showed the colours black, red and gold. The coat of arms, which, from 1959, was a hammer, compass and wreath of wheat, was located in the middle of the colour red.

It was the official national flag of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) during its existence from 1959 to 1990. The flag's design and symbolism are derived from the flag of the Weimar Republic and communist symbolism. The flag was outlawed as an unconstitutional and criminal symbol in West Germany and West Berlin, where it was referred to as the Spalterflagge ('secessionist flag') until the late 1960s.