Germany’s flag features three equal horizontal stripes of black, red, and gold. These colors run from top to bottom in that order and form the national tricolor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The black-red-gold combination became associated with German liberal and nationalist movements in the early 19th century. It appeared prominently during the revolutions of 1848, when supporters sought a more unified and representative German state. The Weimar Republic adopted the tricolor in 1919, but it was replaced during the Nazi era by black-white-red designs and Nazi symbols. West Germany restored black-red-gold in 1949, and it remained the flag of unified Germany after reunification in 1990.
People sometimes call the bottom stripe yellow, but Germany officially describes it as gold. The flag is also easily confused with Belgium’s black-yellow-red tricolor, which has vertical stripes, while the Netherlands uses red, white, and blue.