German Army Flag of the Chief of the Armed Forces High Command (1st version)
CATEGORY: Version
SKU: 20.GOR.05.003.000
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Recently acquired from a prominent collection, this Command Flag of the Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces 1938-1941 is that of Generaloberst Wilhelm Keitel; Swallow-tailed flag with black and white nylon strips forming a border, surrounding a red cotton field, obverse with a white cotton disk in the centre with a black and white embroidered swastika in the middle, the swastika standing on its point, surrounded by a black and white embroidered border, upper left beside the hoist is a black and white embroidered Iron Cross, lower left beside the hoist is a black and white embroidered Armed Forces (Wehrmacht) eagle, the eagle facing towards the hoist, reverse is a mirror image of the obverse, 300 mm x 415 mm, missing its clips, extensive wear evident on the corners of the hoist sleeve, very light soiling, especially in the white areas from active use, near extremely fine.
The flags of the Wehrmacht were initially the old tradition flags of the Imperial Army, which had also been the flags of the Reichswehr. New Wehrmacht flags were introduced on March 16, 1936. All individual colours of units were replaced by the Reich War Flag on August 28, 1944.
Flags and pennants were not only used for individual units, but also to identify high-ranking officers or command posts. Staff flags for commanding officers of units usually showed numbers and (Latin) letters, at least in times of peace, to help identify units more accurately.
There are also National Insignia Pennants (Hoheitszeichen) for officers that were used exclusively on motor vehicles.
The Flag of the Chief of the Armed Forces High Command (Chef des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht) was displayed on vehicles only. There are two version.
The first version was introduced on August 6, 1938. It is a red rectangle with a black/white border and a triangular cut-out on the fly. On it is a black swastika inside a white disc with multiple black and white border, with a black and white Iron Cross in the upper left corner and a Wehrmacht style black and white eagle in the lower left corner.
The second version was introduced on March 23, 1941. It is of the same shape and colour, but the disc shows two crossed field marshal’s batons with a superimposed national eagle. It also has an Iron Cross in the left upper corner.
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