Last modified: 2013-12-09 by pete loeser
Keywords: prussia | preussen | preußen | kingdom of prussia | koenigreich preußen | eagle (black) | coat of arms | iron cross | cross: formy (black) | anchor: fouled (white) | pilot |
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On other Pages: Flags of the Kingdom of Prussia
When in 1660, the Duchy of Prussia became independent of Poland the way was opened to union with Brandenburg and thereby also the foundation of the Prussian state. In 1701, Prussia became a kingdom and from then until 1871, it was in a continuous stage of expansion until it came to be by far the largest German state, almost as large as all the others together.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
Frederick III, Prince Elector (Kurfürst) of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia, proclaimed himself King of Prussia in 1701, with the acceptance of the Emperor and other German powers, partly in exchange for his support in the forthcoming War of the Spanish Succession. Thereafter all Brandenburg-Prussia possessions were generally known as "Prussia."
Santiago Dotor, 29 June 2000
With the overthrow of the monarchy in November 1918, Prussia, like Germany, became a republic. As a result, many of its old flags were abandoned. However, the constitution of 30 November 1920 continued use of the Landesfarben.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
![[Civil Flag / Landesfarben (Prussia, Germany)]](../images/d/de-pruss.gif)
3:5 
Image by Jaume Ollé
The Kingdom of Prussia Civil Flag was a simple black-white horizontal bicolor.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
An article by Dr. Whitney Smith, Gwenn ha Du (black and white) in Ar Banniel, 1999, mentions "4. Kingdom of Prussia - National flag until 1935 - Horizontal black-white."
Ivan Sache, 2 August 1999
[Note: The black and white colours were actually the livery colours of the Prussian coat-of-arms, basically, a black eagle on a white field. See also the Landesfarben of the different Prussian provinces.]
![[Prussia 1701 (Germany)]](../images/d/de_pr713.gif)
Image by Jaume Ollé
A white flag with a crowned Prussian eagle (a black eagle with the letters FR [Fredericus Rex] on the breast) with scepter and orb.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
![[Prussia 1750 (Prussia, Germany)]](../images/d/de_pr786.gif)
Image by Jaume Ollé
A white flag with a crowned Prussian eagle (a black eagle with the letters FR [Fredericus Rex] on the breast) with sword and scepter.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
![[Prussia 1701 (Germany)]](../images/d/de_br801.gif)
Image by Jaume Ollé
Similar to the 1750 flag, except for modest differences in the eagle, crown and scepter.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
![[Prussia 1803 (Germany)]](../images/d/de_pr803.gif)
Image by Jaume Ollé
Similar to 1750 flag, except for modest differences in the eagle, crown and scepter.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
![[State Flag 1892-1918 (Prussia, Germany)]](../images/d/de_prus1.gif)
3:5 | stripes 1+5+1 Image by Jaume Ollé
The Landesflagge is black over white over black (c. 1:5:1) with a black eagle in the white stripe touching the black stripes. Source: States of 1897 in Arndt 1979.
Jan Kuhlmann, 5 December 1995
Like the 1863 civil ensign, but with redesigned eagle. Illustrated in Crampton 1990 p. 42, Meyers Konversations-Lexikon 1912 vol. 4, facing p. 799, National Geographic 1917 p. 367, no. 1013.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
Yesterday I saw a documentary film about early 20th century holidays in Germany. The film said that one of the typical holiday destination was the Baltic Sea coast, which was illustrated with the view of a town square, or possibly a quay platform, on which two flags were flying: one was a bicolour Landesfarben (the film was black and white so no idea where did it belong to) and the other was obviously some kind of variant of the Prussian Landesflagge. It was black-white-black ca. 1:5:1 with a centred Prussian eagle, thus like the one in FOTW but with a centred eagle, rather than offset to the hoist. Alternatively, maybe the eagle was offset to the hoist but much more slightly than shown in the above image.
Santiago Dotor, 24 October 2000
![[State Ensign 1834 (Prussia, Germany)]](../images/d/de_pr-gv.gif)
3:5 
Image by Jaume Ollé
White swallow-tailed flag with a crowned black eagle with gold scepter and gold orb.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
[Note: see also the Service Flag for other Government Vehicles (1867?).
![[Pilot Flag until 1866 (Prussia, Germany)]](../images/d/de-pr~pi.gif)
1:1 
Image by Ivan Sache
A white black-bordered flag.
Norman Martin, 20 January 1998
An article by Dr. Whitney Smith, Gwenn ha Du (black and white) in Ar Banniel, 1999, mentions "9. Kingdom of Prussia - Pilot ensign (until 1866) - White square with a black border."
Ivan Sache, 2 August 1999
Norie and Hobbs (1848) shows under "118: Prussian Signal for a Pilot" the above flag, except 2:3 in proportions.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 12 November 2001
Image by Eugene Ipavec, 2 June 2011
The Preußische Seehandlungs Societät (Prussian Sea Trade Society) was a trade credit society founded in Prussia in 1772. It offered large credits to the government and enjoyed a number of important state privileges, as both banker and broker. In 1904, it became the Prussian State Bank.
Pete Loeser, 6 June 2011
Image by Eugene Ipavec, 5 June 2011
I found this Seehandelsgesellschaftsflaggen as one of a set of four, they are all depicted on a poster in the German edition of Norie and Hobbs (1971). Poster entitled: "Die geschichtliche Entwicklung der als deutsche Nationalflaggen auf See gefahrenen und von den seefahrenden Nationen anerkannten deutschen Kriegs- und Handelsflaggen", (English: "The historical evolution of those German national flags used on ships and recognized as German war flags or merchant flags by the naval nations,") edited by Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum Bremerhaven, 1981, based on an original version of Kapitän zur See a.D. Karl Schultz, all flags on the poster are painted by E. Paschke, all the pictures are all fairly small, approximated size a little bit more than 3 cm2. The poster was still available up until 27 Dec 2003.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 June 2011
Note: For those wishing a larger detail of the Prussian Sea Trade Society Eagle, Eugene Ipavec has provided one.
Image by Eugene Ipavec, 5 June 2011
The German editors of Norie and Hobbs 1971 added two charts (which were not originally in Norie and Hobbs 1848) with German flags that were important over time. One of them is the Preussische Seehandlungs Societät 1834 (Prussian Sea Trade Society). A white flag, a black eagle detailed in white, crowned black, with yellow cloverstalks, holding a yellow sceptre (with eagle or somesuch) and a green orb in yellow claws is shown. [Editor's note: probably a commissioning pennant, consistent with the ensign, as is usually shown in old flag charts.]
Peter Hans van der Muijzenberg, 12 November 2001
Image by Eugene Ipavec, 5 June 2011
The Hausflagge der Preußische Seehandlungs Societät 1834 (House Flag of the Prussian Sea Trade Society), is a white burgee with a black border along the long edges, with the text "S.S." in black.
Peter Hans van der Muijzenberg, 12 November 2001
![[State Ensign used on inland waters 1895-1918 (Prussia, Germany)]](../images/d/de_pr-mi.gif)
