East Germany flag vs Germany flag
Updated: 20 October 2026
You are about to buy a black, red and gold flag in the UK, and the two designs look the same until you look at the centre. The East Germany flag vs Germany flag question is settled by the emblem, and by the year you mean. From 1959 to 1990 the German Democratic Republic used a hammer, a compass and a wreath of grain. Today’s flag is the same three colours with nothing in the middle. The [DDR flag comparison](/hub/flags/ddr-flag) lists modern copies of the emblem flag. Products Compared checked the Bundestag, Deutschland.de and UK display rules on 19 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
You are about to buy a black, red and gold flag in the UK, and the two designs look the same until you look at the centre.
You are about to buy a black, red and gold flag in the UK, and the two designs look the same until you look at the centre. The East Germany flag vs Germany flag question is settled by the emblem, and by the year you mean. From 1959 to 1990 the German Democratic Republic used a hammer, a compass and a wreath of grain. Today’s flag is the same three colours with nothing in the middle. The DDR flag comparison lists modern copies of the emblem flag. Products Compared checked the Bundestag, Deutschland.de and UK display rules on 19 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Size | Centre | Fixing | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  The Flag Company The Flag Company East Germany flag 5 ft by 3 ft | 5 ft by 3 ft | Hammer, compass, grain wreath | Eyelets | 9.4 | about £8.85 | View offer |
| Best value |  AZ FLAG AZ FLAG East Germany flag 45 cm by 30 cm | 45 cm by 30 cm | Hammer, compass, grain wreath | Two cords | 8.6 | about £6.84 | View offer |
| Alternative |  AZ FLAG AZ FLAG East Germany table flag 15 cm by 10 cm | 15 cm by 10 cm | Hammer, compass, grain wreath | Plastic pole and base | 8.0 | about £6.75 | View offer |
On this page
Same colours, different centre
Both flags are horizontal tricolours: black at the top, red in the middle, gold at the bottom. Deutschland.de describes the GDR flag as those colours plus a hammer and compass in a wreath of corn, and the plain flag as the national flag after reunification. An empty red stripe is the plain flag. A red disc with a hammer, a compass and a ring of grain is the 1959–1990 emblem.
Royal Museums Greenwich’s note matches that picture: stripes, a wheat wreath, hammer and compasses, on a red disc. Listings in this amazon.co.uk set are polyester copies, not relics. One reviewer of The Flag Company 5 ft flag says the emblem is not exact. That is a reason to zoom in. East Prussia is a different flag and it is not this pair. Cloth and eyelets, once the centre is right, are on the East Germany flag buying guide.
1949, 1959, and 1990
The GDR did not fly the emblem for its whole life. The Bundestag’s English page says the emblem was added from 1959, and that from 3 October 1990 the plain flag applied in the east as well. From 1949 to 1959 the East German flag was the plain black-red-gold tricolour. A plain flag in a photograph from that decade can be the early GDR. A plain flag after reunification is the flag of Germany.
If the classroom topic is 1950, the plain flag is the historically honest one, because it looks like today’s German flag. If the topic is 1961 or 1989, the emblem is the mark. If the topic is Germany now, buy the plain flag. The large polyester copy to open first is on the best East Germany flag page.
What the hammer, compass and wreath stand for
The usual reading, which Royal Museums Greenwich records for this flag, ties the devices to groups in the state. The hammer stands for the workers. The compass stands for the intelligentsia. The wreath of grain, also called corn or wheat in English sources, stands for the farmers. They sit together on a red disc in the middle of the red stripe.
That reading is a key to the picture. It is not a claim that every printed flag draws the wreath with the same number of ears. When a listing says DDR, GDR or East Germany and the photo shows the tools, you are in the emblem family. A 15 cm desk flag and a 150 cm house flag can carry the same centre and still be the wrong object. The formats are on the East Germany flag size page.
Owning it and flying it in the UK
Owning a historical East Germany flag is not named as an offence in the sources we used. Section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986 deals with a threatening, abusive or insulting display, done with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress. It does not name this flag.
Flying it is a planning question in England. Class H allows any country’s national flag without consent if you have the owner’s permission, you keep it safe, and you do not block a transport sign. The GDR is not a country now, and the GOV.UK guide does not say a former state’s flag is inside that class. Scotland treats flag flying as outside advertisement control. The Flags Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2000 are about government buildings, not a garden. Buy the emblem flag when you mean East Germany after 1959. Buy the plain flag when you mean Germany today.
Common questions
What do the hammer, compass, and wreath mean?
Royal Museums Greenwich’s account of this flag is that the hammer stands for workers, the compass for the intelligentsia, and the wreath of grain for farmers. Deutschland.de calls the same ring a wreath of corn. A shop listing is not a guarantee that every ear of grain matches a museum example.
Was the emblem there from 1949?
No. The GDR was founded in 1949 and the emblem went on the flag from 1959. A plain black-red-gold flag between those years can be the early East German flag. From 3 October 1990 the plain flag is the flag of reunified Germany. The Bundestag page is the source for both dates.
Is the federal eagle the same thing?
No. The federal eagle is the coat of arms of the Federal Republic. A flag carrying the eagle is not the national civil flag, and it is not the GDR emblem. The national flag of Germany is plain black, red and gold.
Is it illegal to own this flag in the UK?
Section 4A of the Public Order Act 1986 does not name the East Germany flag. It covers a threatening, abusive or insulting display done with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress. Owning a historical copy is not, on that wording, an offence by itself.
Can you fly it in a garden?
In England, Class H’s any country’s national flag does not clearly include a state that no longer exists. Ask the local planning authority if the pole is in doubt. You need the owner’s permission, and the flag must not block a transport sign. Scotland treats flag flying differently. Northern Ireland’s regulations for government buildings are not a garden rule.
Related pages
Sources
Public sources for this comparison, checked on 19 October 2026.
- GOV.UK flying flags guide (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Class H, advertisements regulations (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Public Order Act 1986, section 4A (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Bundestag, flag of Germany (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Deutschland.de, the German flag (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Royal Museums Greenwich, GDR flag (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Flagmakers, flag fabric (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- The Flag Shop, East Germany flag (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Flying Colours, East Germany state flag (retrieved 19 October 2026)
- Flag Consultancy, flag flying procedures (retrieved 19 October 2026)