Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original German WWII Reichskriegsflagge, or national war flag, manufactured by Lorenz Summa Söhne of Oberkotzau and measuring 80cm in hoist by 135cm in fly. It remains in apparently unissued condition with bright colors, very little age toning, a complete white canvas header, and an intact halyard running the full length of the hoist with loops at both ends.

The flag is constructed from what appears to be wool or a wool and cotton blend. The printed design consists of a bright red field with a large white central disc bearing a black swas, superimposed over the black and white Balkenkreuz design extending toward the edges. The upper hoist canton carries a black Iron Cross on a white field. These designs all have black and white borders around them for increased visibility.

The white canvas header contains the full length halyard, which forms suspension loops at both the upper and lower ends. The reverse lower portion of the header is clearly maker marked:

Lorenz Summa Söhne
Oberkotzau

The reverse upper portion is additionally marked:

Kr.Fl. 80 x 135

identifying the flag as a Kriegsflagge in the regulation 80cm x 135cm size.

The overall dimensions are approximately:

80cm hoist x 135cm fly
31.5" hoist x 53.15" fly

No Kriegsmarine acceptance marking is visible on the header. The absence of a naval property or acceptance stamp means the flag should not be assigned specifically to Kriegsmarine service. It may have been intended for general armed forces use, or simply remained unissued.

This size of flag is a size "5" in the Kriegsmarine Flaggenbuch (Navy Flag Book) period naval size tables, so when used with the navy it would have been used with ships up to 500 tons, including U-Boats, E-Boats, and tugs. However, because this example lacks naval acceptance markings and shows no evidence of actual issue, no specific branch, ship type, or vessel provenance should be assigned to it.

Overall condition is excellent and apparently unissued. The red field remains bright, the white areas show little to no visible age toning, and there are no significant holes, tears, stains, or service wear noted. Only minor stitching irregularities from original manufacture are visible.

With its Lorenz Summa Söhne maker marking, Kr.Fl. 80 x 135 size stamp, complete halyard, bright printed design, and apparently unissued condition, this is a particularly clean example of a German WWII Reichskriegsflagge. The minor construction irregularities and absence of specific branch or vessel provenance are fully disclosed. It would fit especially well in a German military flag, wartime textile, Reichskriegsflagge, or advanced WWII collection.

Designed personally by Adolf AH, the Reichskriegsflagge 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."