Original Item: Only One Available. The Reichskriegsflagge (Imperial War Flag) was the official name of the war flag and war ensign used by the German armed forces from 1933 to 1945. This included the Heer, Luftwaffe, and Kriegsmarine, as it was a National flag. The flag measures a large 100" x 186", and is a very interesting example, acquired directly from the family of a WWII veteran inside a German WWII ammunition crate. It was mailed back in this crate, which has a CERTIFICATE authorizing the bring back stapled to the side of the crate. Unfortunately, wear and age have made any written / typed in particulars completely illegible. Thankfully, the return address information still mostly visible on the top:

FROM:
P.F.C. P.G. RHODES ??893 ??
9th QM 9th INF. DIV. A.P.O. 9
c/o P.M. N.Y./N.Y.

The mailing address is better retained:

TO/ Mr. J.P. RHODES
911 WASHINGTON ST.
McKEESPORT
PA.

Research indicates that this may be Paul Gregg Rhodes, and there is a unit marking after his name, however we cannot quite make it out. It looks to read "893", which should be for Co C, 893d TD Bn, a Tank Destroyer Battalion under the 9th Infantry Division. Definitely some interesting research potential here!

The crate itself measures 22"W x 15 ½"H x 13"D, and is definitely some type of ammunition crate. Most of the internal labels have been removed, but we can still see the following: 

Inhaltszettel

Leucht=Patronen
Stahlhülen

This translates to "Contents Sheet: Illumunating Cartridges Steel Casings", so we assume it was full of some type of tracer rounds. We do not see any other designation that indicates the caliber.

The flag inside the box is definitely a bit different than most we see, as it is of multi-piece construction, instead of the usual printed / dyed wool that we see, even on large examples such as this. It looks to be a mixture of wool, canvas, and cotton fabric, with the piece of fabric dyed different colors, so no printing was involved. It measures approximately 100" x 186" is 8.3ft by 16.3ft, or 2.54m by 4.72m. This does not appear to be one of the standard sizes, though 255cm x 475cm would be close, somewhere between the 200x335 and 300x500 sizes. It definitely looks to be made for ground use, and has a canvas header with a nice halyard loop and end clip

The flag displays a large Swas (hook cross) in the center of a German Naval Balkenkreuz (Beam Cross) design, which goes to the edge of the flag. In the top corner (Canton) is a black on white Eisernes Kreuz (Iron cross). The designs all have black and white borders, which really makes them stand out. It definitely shows wear from use, with some small stains, tears, holes, and the like. There is some wear and fraying on the edges, though unfortunately there are no markings indicating where it was captured. Still, it makes for an impressive display piece.

Included with the flag is a BATTLE ROUTE of the 90 INF DIV map, which has some writing on the back, however we have not been able to determine what it means. Some of it almost looks like a word game was being played on it. We are not sure why this is in the box, as the mailing address pretty prominently mentions the 9th Infantry division.

A lovely USGI bring back flag, with some great research potential!

Designed personally by Adolf AH, this flag served the Heer and the Luftwaffe as their War Flag, and the Kriegsmarine as its War Ensign (the National Flag serving as Jack). This flag was hoisted daily in barracks operated by units of the Wehrmacht combined German military forces, and it had to be flown from a pole positioned near the barracks entrance, or failing this, near the guard room or staff building. New recruits in the latter part of World War II were sworn in on this flag (one recruit holding the flag and taking the oath on behalf of the entire recruit class with the recruits looking on as witnesses - before, this was done on the regimental colors).

The flag had to be formally hoisted every morning and lowered every evening. These hoisting and lowering ceremonies took the form of either an ordinary or a ceremonial flag parade. At the ordinary raising, the party consisted of the Orderly Officer of the Day, the guard, and one musician. At the ceremonial raising, one officer, one platoon of soldiers with rifles, the guard, the regimental band, and the corps of drums were all present.

The proportions of the flag are 3:5. Fusing elements of the NSDAP German Flag (swas and red background) with that of the old Imperial Reich War Flag (four arms emanating from off-center circle and Iron Cross in the canton), these flags were uniformly produced as a printed design on bunting.

Raised for the first time at the Bendlerstraße Building (Wehrmacht Headquarters) in Berlin on November 7, 1935, It was taken down for the last time by British occupation forces after the arrest of the Dönitz Government at the Naval Academy Mürwik in Flensburg-Mürwik, Germany, on May 23, 1945.

In his book, Inside the Third Reich, Albert Speer states that "in only two other designs did he (Adolf AH) execute the same care as he did his Obersalzberg house: that of the Reich War Flag and his own standard of Chief of State."