Flag of the German Empire

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Reichsflagge

Use	State flag, civil and state ensign
Proportion	2:3 (3:5 in 1933–1935)
Adopted	1867; 157 years ago (1867) (first 2:3 ratio) 1933; 91 years ago (1933) (second 3:5 ratio)
Relinquished	1919; 105 years ago (1919) (first 2:3 ratio) 1935; 89 years ago (1935) (second 3:5 ratio)
Design	A horizontal tricolour of black, white, and red

The black-white-red flag^[1] (Schwarz-Weiß-Rot),^[2] also known as the flag of the German Empire, the Imperial Flag or the Realm Flag (Reichsflagge), is a combination between the flag of Prussia and the flag of the Hanseatic League. Starting as the national flag of the North German Confederation, it would go on to be commonly used officially and unofficially under the nation-state of the German Reich, which existed from 1871 to 1945. After 1918, it was used as a political symbol by various organizations.