Frankfurt upon Oder City (Germany)

Stadt Frankfurt (Oder), (Brandenburg)

Last modified: 2020-05-13 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: frankfurt(oder) | frankfurt an der oder | gate(red) | rooster(red) | mount |
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• Frankfurt (Oder)
• Frankfurt (Oder) Flag
• Frankfurt (Oder) Coat of Arms
• Flag 1949-1952
• Symbols 1952-1992
• Doubtful Flag reported 1856

• County and Municipal Flags (Brandenburg, Germany)
• Brandenburg (Germany)
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Frankfurt (Oder) City

Frankfurt (Oder) Flag

Red-green-white with centred arms. Arms from Bensing et al. Lexikon Städte und Wappen der DDR, Leipzig, 1984.
Stefan Schwoon, 14 Feb 2001

Frankfurt (Oder) Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of the city was changed slightly in 1992 — the cock now stands with both feet on the ground. Previously, he was passant. If I understand correctly, the exact form of the cock has political implications, and currently both forms are in use, although the statant variant will become official eventually.
Stefan Schwoon, 10 Mar 2001

From Ralf Hartemink's webpage:
The arms show a city gate with the eagle of Brandenburg, as Frankfurt received city rights by the Counts of Brandenburg in 1253. The meaning or origin of the rooster is not clear, it may be simply a symbol of watchfulness. It may also be a canting symbol. Frankfurt means <Ford of the Francs, a German tribe, which was often named Gallus/Gallii in Latin. Gallus is also Latin for a rooster. The whole composition already appears on the oldest known seal of the city, dating from 1294. Most other seals showed the same composition, but some smaller seals only showed the rooster.
Source: Bensing et al. 1984.
Santiago Dotor, 28 Nov 2001

A city flag was used since 1890, while the city colours are used since approximately the 17th century. A new coat-of-arms was officially adopted on 22 October 1992, changing the rooster to a 'stationary' one.
German description: "In Silber auf grünem Berg stehend, ein gold bewehrter Hahn im Kleeblattbogen eines von zwei sechseckigen roten Türmen beseiteten offenen roten Torbaus, darüber schwebt ein silberner Schild mit rotem Adler, auf den goldbeknauften Dächern der Seitentürme steht je ein abgewendeter, widersehender goldener Vogel,der breitgedachte Mittelbau ist an den Ecken mit je einem goldenen Kreuz versehen."
A law on the city flag was also enacted on 22 October 1992.
German description: "Die Flagge ist von Rot rüber Grrün zu Weiß zu gleichen Teilen längsgestreift, mit dem Stadtwappen in der Mitte."
Source: my article in Der Flaggenkurier no. 3.
Jens Pattke, 4 Dec 2001

My translation: Silver, a [red] roaster armed in gold, standing on a green mountain in the clover-leafed doorway of an opened red towergate flanked with two hexagonal red towers, on which [the gate] is placed a silver shield with a red eagle; on the lateral towers topped with a golden knob, two golden birds back to back; on the angles of the large-roofed central building a golden cross.
Ivan Sache, 5 Dec 2001

Flag 1949-1952

It was a red-white-green horizontal tricolour with centred arms.
Stefan Schwoon, 10 Mar 2001

Symbols 1952-1992

Flag:
It was a red-white-green horizontal tricolour with centred arms.
Coat of Arms:
Shield Argent, issuant from base a mount Vert, upon mount a rooster passant Gules armed Or, beneath an arch Gules, formed like a cloverleaf, of a red port, having two hexagonal towers; in chief an impending inescutcheon Or, charged with an eagle Gules, armed Or with cloverstems Argent upon his wings, upon his breast another inescutcheon Argent charged with a sceptre Sable; on top of the towers two birds addorsed Or.
The sceptre might be as well a crossbow or a rabble. This can't be traced easily, as official blazons from times of the German Democratic Republic are not available. The inescutcheon had been changed in order to distinguish it from the arms of the Prussian Province of Brandenburg.
The modifications can be seen on this photo. his insurance company displayed the former arms of the Brandenburg Province, the eagle is crowned by an elector's coronet and the inescutcheon is Azure charged Or with whatsoever.
Jens Pattke, 3 Mar 2019 and Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2019

Doubtful Flag reported 1856

The flag is horizontally divided, beneath blue, above vertically divided red (hoist) and black (fly) with white fimbriations between the different fields and a white eagle in canton, holding sword and orb by his claws. Comment of the author: "a seaport of Prussia, province of Brandenburg on the river Oder, 50 miles East by South of Berlin". Frankfurt upon Oder surely isn't and never was a seaport. The white eagle is a bit strange. At the first glance one might think, the author had mismatched the city with Frankfurt upon Main. Its arms display a white eagle on red, but without sword and orb. And in 1856, when the source was published, Frankfurt upon Main still had been a Free Imperial City. It was annexed by Prussia ten years later in 1866. Source: Alphonso Figsbee: "The maritime Flags and Standards of all Nations", New York, 1856, p.(38) top left
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 May 2020

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