GERMAN WW2 LARGE NAVAL BATTLE FLAG 6.6' x 10'

This is an original German Battle flag, Reichskriegsflagge. it also served the Kriegsmarine as the naval ensign.   The flag is a very large size of 6.6 feet X 10 feet.   This larger size indicates it would have been used on a sizable ship.

This particular flag was used during 1938 – 1945 which is shown by the width of the width of the black stripes which were changed in 1938. 

Constructed of cotton, the printed design features a red background with a large white central circle displaying a large Swastika  with the German Naval Balkenkreuz (Beam Cross) design also in black to the edges. In the top corner (Canton) is a black on white Eisernes Kreuz (Iron cross). 

Designed personally by Adolf Hitler, these flags served the Heer and the Luftwaffe as their War Flag, and the Kriegsmarine as its War Ensign.

This naval flag was required to be hoisted on flag days or if a head of state was on board regardless of the location of the ship.   These were 1 January (New Year), 18 January (founding day of the German Empire in 1871), 30 January ("Day of National Survey"), 20 April (Adolf Hitler's birthday), 1 May ("Labour Day") and 31 May (anniversary of the Battle of Jutland).   

In addition, ships in home waters had to hoist the flag on 1 March (commemorating the 1935 reintegration of the Territory of the Saar Basin into Germany), 29 August (the day of the founding of the Prussian Navy in 1859), the first Sunday after Michaelmas and the day of the harvest festival.