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.
Flag of Maastricht
In 1438 the flag of Maastricht is described as being as a five-pointed star on a red field, with the first historic image dating from 1545. The mentioned image was published in the "Wappenbuch von Meister IK"-book in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. However, in 1549, the flag is stated as being "yellow-white-red". In 1647, the white-star-on-red design had apparently returned when the Peace of Münster treaty was signed. The next known design is the white-red (with the upper part of the flag being white, and the lower part being red) design similar to the Polish flag. In 1993 it was decided by the municipal government to reinstate the first design and the flag was re-inaugurated on January 1, 1994.