Empress' Standard 1871-1918 (Germany)

kaiserinstandarte

Last modified: 2012-10-01 by pete loeser
Keywords: empress | kaiserinstandarte | iron cross | cross: formy (black) | crown: imperial | eagles: 16 (black) | eagles: 37 |
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Image by Željko Heimer
(variant from Meyers Konversationslexikon 1897)

Editorial Comment: Some differences have been noted among various sources for the Imperial Standard. The version b Željko Heimer is from Meyers Konversationslexikon 1897, and the one by Jaume Ollé shown below is from the Enciclopedia Hispano-Americana - the latter source is supposed to include the charts from Flaggenbuch 1905.

• Empress' Standard - Kaiserinstandarte 1871-1918

• Empress' Broad Pennant - Breitwimpel der Kaiserin
• Standards of the Emperor and Other Sovereigns 1871-1918
• German Empire 1871-1919
• Index of all German Pages

Empress' Standard 1871-1918
Kaiserinstandarte

Image by Jaume Ollé
(variant from Enciclopedia Hispano-Americana, originally from Flaggenbuch 1905)

The Empress's Standard is basically the same as the Imperial Standard, but without the big iron cross. It does have a smaller one in canton, with no inscriptions except a "W" under a crown. The golden background is "semee" with black eagles 6+5+6+5+6+5+6 vertically. There is no indication in the flag descriptions what the W is for, but my guess is it is for Wilhelm (William in English), who was the Emperor (1871-1888 Wilhelm I, 1888 Friedrich, 1888-1919 Wilhelm II). (It might seem odd that on her standard is his initial.)
Željko Heimer, 27 October 1996

Claude de Cubber wrote me trying to identify a picture of a flag he thought might be the crown prince's.
Mark Sensen, 20 December 2000

This appears to be the standard of the Kaiserin 1888-1918, although it has the Empress's crown at the 4 places closest to the coat-of-arms instead of eagles. The crown prince's standard(s) have an iron cross overall, not just in the canton.
Norman Martin, 20 December 2000

Some of the information in Schlawe 1913 —published by Moritz Ruhl, who also published the Flaggenbuch 1905 for the German Navy— differs from the two images we show above by Željko Heimer and Jaume Ollé:

• Schlawe 1913 shows a lighter shade of gold.
• The Iron Cross in the upper hoist is more like Željko Heimer's, but positioned away from the edges like Jaume Ollé's.
• The shield on the eagle is like Jaume Ollé's but with a very thin black line inside and following the edge.
• The crown on the shield is like Jaume Ollé's, but without the red lining.
• The small eagles on the field are positioned as in Jaume Ollé's image.

Accurate illustrations that agree [with Schlawe 1913] can be found in Meyer's, reprinted in Crampton 1990, p. 42 and in Zamierowski 1999, p. 59. The latter also has good versions of the 1871-1890 standards.
Norman Martin, 5 December 2001