Flag of Germany
With the formation of the short-lived Weimar Republic after World War I, the tricolour was adopted as the national flag of Germany. Sixteen years later following World War II, the tricolour was again designated as the flag of both West and East Germany divided states in 1949. The two flags were identical until 1959, when the East German flag was augmented with the coat of arms of East Germany. Since reunification on 3 October 1990, the black-red-gold tricolour has become the flag of a reunified Federal Republic of Germany.
Habsburg flag
The original form of this flag, introduced in 1686, featured a yellow background with the double-headed eagle. However, this proved to be a complicated design and was too hard to reproduce. From 1720 onward, the simpler form with the yellow and black bars started to appear. With the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1804, this flag was approved for use as a civil flag. For naval and military uses, the newly founded Austrian Empire introduced the now-familiar red-white-red with the Austrian coat of arms.