Last modified: 2013-12-09 by german editorial team
Keywords: saxony-anhalt | sachsen-anhalt | anhalt | proposal | canton (anhalt) | coat of arms (quartered) | stripes: 8 (yellow-black) | stripes: 10 (yellow-black) | discs: 3 (concentric) | embattled |
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Shortly after the German reunification in 1990, Länder [federal states] were reconstituted in the area of the former German Democratic Republic. The historical background of the five new Länder (Saxony, Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania) was very different. Especially Saxony-Anhalt is a conglomerate of parts with differing history and had only a short history as an own Land from 1945-1952. So it was especially difficult to find symbols for the new Land.
There were a lot of different proposals for a new coat-of-arms in 1990; the one from 1948-1952 was used inofficially for some time in 1990-91, but was not a favoured design for the new Land due to its socialist attributes. Most of the coat-of-arms proposals showed a lot of historical arms in a quartered shield. In the end the current arms was established, which is certainly the heraldically least pleasing of all German Länder coats-of-arms.
The discussion about the flag was not as intense; however, the black-yellow flag used by the prussian Provinz Sachsen and later from 1945-1952 could not be used, as Baden-Württemberg now uses this color combination. There were about 14 proposals [which are] described and shown in Günther 1996. These show only the proposals for a civil flag (sometimes identical to the state flag); in most cases the state flag would contain the would-be coat-of-arms.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A green-yellow-black triband, combining the green of Anhalt with the yellow and black of the Provinz Sachsen. Proposed by Jiri Tenora. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A black-yellow bicolour with a canton striped red-green-white, also combining symbols for Anhalt and the Provinz Sachsen. Proposed by the Constitution working committee for the preparation of the establishment of the Land. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A black-yellow bicolour with the then-favoured arms; this would have been used as civil and state flag. Proposed by the Constitution working committee for the preparation of the establishment of the Land. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A flag striped eight times of yellow and black, as a banner of arms of the most important part of the arms. Proposed by Arnold Rabbow. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A red-white bicolour, based on some coat-of-arms proposals with dominant red and white colours [see for instance proposal no.6]. Proposed by Fritz Wächter. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A black-red-gold triband with the would-be arms, following the example of Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saar; this would have been used as civil and state flag. Proposed by Ernst Haiger. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A red-white-green triband, based on the the old Ascanian arms (red eagle on silver and green rue crown) and the Anhalt colours. Proposed by Jürgen Arndt. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A red white bicolour with a bend sinister of black and yellow, based on the main colours of a coat-of-arms proposal. Proposed by Udo Dräger. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A black-red-gold triband with a wider red stripe and the would-be arms in the center. Proposed by H. Günter Neum. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A black-yellow bicolour with a roundel in the Anhalt colours (red-green-white) in the center, symbolizing that Anhalt is surrounded by the former Provinz Sachsen [see areas 'A' and 'vii' on the clickable map of Germany 1871]. Proposed by Erhard Hirsch. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A flag striped ten times of yellow and black, as a banner of arms of the most important part of the arms. Proposed by the Ministry of the Interior as a draft to the parliament, but rejected. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A vertical triband of red-green-white, the Anhalt colours. Proposed by Arthur S. Sepp. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A flag divided from bottom hoist to top fly red over white with a yellow-black bend sinister, combining the main colours of the would-be-arms. Proposed by Ulrich Zeiler. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001
A flag with a thin yellow stripe at the top, a wider stripe divided like an embattled wall of red and white, and a thin black stripe at the bottom. Proposed by Ulrich Zeiler. Source: Günther 1996.
Marcus Schmöger, 8 March 2001