Flag of Germany
While the use of black-red-gold had been suggested in the Soviet zone in 1946, the Second People's Congress in 1948 decided to adopt the old black-white-red tricolour as a national flag for East Germany. This choice was based on the use of these colours by the National Committee for a Free Germany, a German anti-Nazi organisation that operated in the Soviet Union in the last two years of the war. In 1949, following a suggestion from Friedrich Ebert, Jr., the black-red-gold tricolour was instead selected as the flag of the German Democratic Republic upon the formation of this state on 7 October 1949. From 1949 to 1959, the flags of both West and East Germany were identical. On 1 October 1959, the East German government changed its flag with the addition of its coat of arms. In West Germany, these changes were seen as a deliberate attempt to divide the two Germanys. Displaying this flag in West Germany and West Berlin—where it became known as the (divider-flag)—was seen as a breach of the constitution and subsequently banned until the late 1960s.
Flag of Hamburg
The civil flag shows a white castle with three towers on red background, which is used as a civil flag as a state flag for most purposes. (It was historically used as civil ensign as well.) The oldest seal with the castle is thought to date from 1241. The first flag featuring the current form was in the mid-16th century, although this was most probably a red field, a white escutcheon and red castle. After about 1623, the escutcheon began to be omitted, leaving a red castle on white or a white castle on red. It was only in 1751 that the white castle on red was decreed as the flag of Hamburg.