Flags of the Third Reich

by Brian Leigh Davis

In his book Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler claims that he made the decision to use the swastika as the emblem for his fledgling movement. He was responsible for the shape the swastika finally took, and for the choice of colors used, which set the pattern for all subsequent flags of the party and its associated units. Hitler devoted almost four pages of his book to this matter. He felt that the new flag 'should prove effective as a large poster.' On 16 March 1936, in his role as supreme commander, he bestowed new colors to the Wehrmacht reinforcing this ideal. Later the Waffen-SS were equipped with flags and insignia even more redolent of Nazi ideology and many non-German volunteer contingents, variously named as 'Legions' and 'Free Corps', were raised to serve alongside the German forces, primarily on the Eastern Front, these units were also equipped with flags and insignia following Hitler's ideals, but also reflecting their own national identities. Brian Leigh Davis is one of the world's leading experts on the insignia and regalia of Nazi Germany. He lives and works in Surrey, UK. Osprey

Genres: Nonfiction, History, World War II

144 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2000

Reviews

[Dimitri]

All the flag minutia you can handle, down to the nails on the pole & the techniques behind every silk thread. Wonderfully illustrated in colour... and bitterly ironic in its inclusion of ever-curtailing Flag Regulations.

The outbreak of war largely put a stop to the creation of new flags, save for the foreign volunteer units of the Waffen-SS. In 1944, it also banished regimental colours to museums in inner Germany, save from the disgraceful capture by the enemy who closed in on both sides, with the generic Kriegsflagge suddenly omnipresent as a sign of Hitler's distrust of his own regulars after the July Plot. Finally, a lot of festive usage of silk banners was postponed until the final victory that never came.

Gorgeously martial by design, employing centuries-old German symbolism and ultimately a short-lived novelty that tried artificially to redirect the course of history, these flags embody the hubris of Nazi Germany.

[Gortius Octavo]

Resumidamente: no merece la pena comprarlo.

No es un libro malo, pero es un libro que al menos en mi caso me pareció que tenía mucho potencial y tenía una premisa verdaderamente única, pero se limitó a ser un CATÁLOGO.

El libro es un catálogo, y cuando no lo es, es un libro de historia más, historia además que no tiene nada que ver con las banderas relacionadas a ella.

Me gustaría al menos que contase con más detalle la historia de la bandera y NO de la organización a la que pertenece; en el sentido de cómo y dónde y con que resultado fue usada en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, etcétera…

Muy mejorable, una pena.