Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The design of the Nazi flag was introduced by Hitler as the party flag in mid-1920, roughly a year before (29 July 1921) he became his political party's leader: a flag with a red background, a white disk and a black swastika in the middle.
The previous imperial black, white, and red tricolour was restored as one of Germany's two official flags; the second was the swastika flag of the Nazi Party, which became the sole national flag in September 1935.
The flag of Nazi Germany, officially called the Reich and National Flag (German: Reichs- und Nationalflagge[1]), featured a red background with a black swastika on a white disk.
The 20th-century German Nazi Party made extensive use of graphic symbols, especially the swastika, notably in the form of the swastika flag, which became the co-national flag of Nazi Germany in 1933, and the sole national flag in 1935. A very similar flag had represented the Party beginning in 1920.
On September 15, 1935, the black swastika on a white circle with a red background became the national flag of Germany. This use of the swastika ended in World War II with the German surrender in May 1945, though the swastika is still favoured by neo-Nazi groups.
By 1945, the symbol had become associated with World War II, military brutality, fascism, and genocide—spurred by Nazi Germany’s attempted totalitarian conquest of Europe. The icon was chosen by the party to represent its goal of racial purification in Europe.
As the swastika became more and more intertwined with German nationalism, Adolf Hitler’s influence grew—and he adopted the hooked cross as the Nazi party symbol in 1920.
The most widespread Nazi flag featured a black swastika in a white circle on a red field. Other official flags were also displayed during the Nazi regime. The German armed forces, for example, flew a modified version of the much older Imperial Reich war flag.
For Hitler, the new flag had to be “a symbol of our own struggle” as well as “highly effective as a poster.” On August 7, 1920, at the Salzburg Congress, this flag became the official emblem of the Nazi Party.
The swastika is an ancient symbol that was in use in many different cultures for at least 5,000 years before Adolf Hitler made it the centerpiece of the Nazi flag. Its present-day use by certain extremist groups promotes hate.