Flag of Saxony

Free State of Saxony
	Landesflagge
Use	Civil flag
Proportion	3:5 (or 1:2)
Adopted	1920, 1947, 1991
Design	A bicolor of white over green.
Landesdienstflagge
Use	State flag
Proportion	3:5 (or 1:2)
Adopted	1991
Design	The civil flag with the addition of the coat of arms.

Both the civil and state flag of the German state of Saxony feature a bicolour of white over green, similar to the Austrian province of Styria although they are historically not related to each other. The state flag is similar to the civil flag, except it is defaced in the centre with the coat of arms of Saxony. The colours of both flags were officially decided as state colours in 1815^[1] in the Kingdom of Saxony. The aristocracy used mostly and in first time the quadrangular version and later the rectangular.

Overview

The civil bicolour flag of white over green was used before World War II, and formally abolished in 1935, under the reforms of the Third Reich. It was readopted 1945 when Saxony became a state again, and abolished 1952 under governing reforms of the German Democratic Republic. When Germany was reunited, Saxony became a state again, and so the flag was finally officially readopted in 1991, having been a much used symbol during the demonstrations in the German Democratic Republic in 1989/90.^[2]

Landtag of the Free State of Saxony

Landtag of the Free State of Saxony uses its own flag.

Flag of Landtag of Saxony.

Minority flags

Paragraph 4 of Article 2 of the Constitution of the Free State of Saxony guarantees other flags equality alongside the Saxon state flag.^[3]

Gallery

Previous versions

First Saxon flag of Old Saxony (700–785)
Saxon flag by the House of Ascania; associated for the Saxon Ostmark and battleflag for the Saxon Eastern March; crusades around 950
Royal standard of the House of Wettin
Ducal standard of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (1826–1920), designed by Queen Victoria
Royal Standard of Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha as consort of Queen Victoria (1840–1861)
Saxe-Altenburg (1602–1672, 1826–1918, 1918–1920)
Saxe-Meiningen flag design during 1826–1918
Saxe-Weimar Banner of Duchess Anna Amalia of Saxe Weimar who was the patron of Goethe and Schiller
Electorate of Saxony (1356–1806)
The height of Saxony's power: Royal standard of the Saxon Kings of Poland-Lithuania (1697–1706; 1709–1763)
Without coat of arms (the flag of the Kingdom of Saxony, until 1815)
The flag of the Kingdom of Saxony (1815–1918), the Free State of Saxony (Weimar Republic (1918–1925), and reunified Germany (since 1991)
War flag with cannons, bombs, lances and one Fire Salamander, who can live in, eat and his drunken blood protects from fire (1697–1706; 1709–1763)
The banner of the Margraviate of Meissen for troops or princes (1806–1918)
Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1809–1920)
Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach (1596–1638; 1640–1644; 1662–1809)
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1826–1911)
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1911–1920)
Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1680–1826)
Saxe-Hildburghausen (1680–1826)
Flag of Gau Saxony (1933–1945)

References

^ State Chancellery (1991), Gesetz über das Wappen des Freistaates Sachsen vom 18. November 1991 (Law on the arms of the Free State Saxony of 18 November 1991)
^ Siobhán Ryan (2002-03-19), Verwaltungsvorschrift des Sächsischen Staatskanzlei über die Beflaggung der Dienstgebäude im Freistaat Sachsen (Administrative Regulation of the Saxon Prime Minister's Office on the Display of Flags in Official Buildings in the Free State of Saxony) (in German)
^ "REVOSax Landesrecht Sachsen - Verfassung". www.revosax.sachsen.de. Retrieved 2020-02-17.

[1] State Chancellery (1991), Gesetz über das Wappen des Freistaates Sachsen vom 18. November 1991 (Law on the arms of the Free State Saxony of 18 November 1991)

[2] Siobhán Ryan (2002-03-19), Verwaltungsvorschrift des Sächsischen Staatskanzlei über die Beflaggung der Dienstgebäude im Freistaat Sachsen (Administrative Regulation of the Saxon Prime Minister's Office on the Display of Flags in Official Buildings in the Free State of Saxony) (in German)

[3] "REVOSax Landesrecht Sachsen - Verfassung". www.revosax.sachsen.de. Retrieved 2020-02-17.

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