East German Military Flags

[RedCatcher1986]

Gentlemen,

I recently received a flag and flag pole topper of East German origins from a fellow member on this forum and due to the restrictions on shipping certain items from Europe to the United States, Deutsche Post would not ship the flag staff in itself as even in two pieces it exceeded their length limits. The question is does anyone have any idea if the East German flags and pole toppers are compatible with American made military guidon, or flag staffs. The flag and pole topper are really quite exquisite in their make up and as I don't have room on my wall to hang the flag up I figured I'd mount it on a flag staff and stand it in the corner of my office across from an old U.S. Army unit guidon. I'll post pictures of the flag and pole topper here shortly. Many thanks gentlemen.

Sincerely,
DeWayne

[RedCatcher1986]

Flag Pole Topper:



The Flag Itself:





Many thanks to forum member and my friend SirHarry1 for acquiring such a unique piece for my collection

[torstenbel]

might be better to also post your question in the flag forum, as that is where the flag and flag pole experts are. Cheers, Torsten.

[David H]

Nice flag of what appears to be 1980's production and a nice DTSB, 'Deutscher Turn und Sportbund'. German Gymnastic and Sports Union.
top of the second pattern. Though to be honest I don't believe the two should be together.
I would expect to see this flag on a more generic pole i.e. a 2 piece natural wood, possibly varnished pole with centre bayonet fitting rather than screw fitting, no metal footing with either a standard spear point or open shield or at a push a bespoke ASV one.
Not knowing the dimensions and style of a US guidon I can't comment if it would work, but most DDR tops don't fit DDR poles unless the pole has been hand tweaked to fit.

[RedCatcher1986]

Nice flag of what appears to be 1980's production and a nice DTSB, 'Deutscher Turn und Sportbund'. German Gymnastic and Sports Union.
top of the second pattern. Though to be honest I don't believe the two should be together.
I would expect to see this flag on a more generic pole i.e. a 2 piece natural wood, possibly varnished pole with centre bayonet fitting rather than screw fitting, no metal footing with either a standard spear point or open shield or at a push a bespoke ASV one.
Not knowing the dimensions and style of a US guidon I can't comment if it would work, but most DDR tops don't fit DDR poles unless the pole has been hand tweaked to fit.

Thanks David,

Prior to it being sent across the Atlantic, I was shown original photographs of the whole layout and the pole topper and flag were in this case used together. It has the five loops for sliding a pole through and there is a screw hole, the screw which I have in my possession as well. Hmmm I will keep that in mind though when it comes to trying to find a flagpole to put it on

[David H]

Interesting, do you still have the photo, it would be most interesting to see a period picture of the configuration.

[torstenbel]

The ASV was part of the DTSB and so, it is possible that the two were used together on one setup, although, I agree with David that it is more likely that the flag would have a different flag pole top ... I think either is possible at this stage, but of course, seeing is believing and a period photograph of this combination would be great to see ... Cheers, Torsten.

[RedCatcher1986]

By original photographs I mean photographs before the entire piece was disassembled for shipment across the Atlantic. I will however inquire as to period photos or some other such notice. Thanks for the information though. As of right now it's going to remain as is with the pole top on one of my display shelves and the flag is currently folded up until I find a way to display it. What is one to do with such diminishing space in one collection room?

[David H]

As previously said they probably don't belong together, unfortunately lots of flags were de-poled after the demise of the DDR preumably for ease of storage, even the TLO flag book produced in the early 90's has some flags mismatched with incorrect tops.

Display... If you are that tight for space you could always place it on perspex and screw it to the ceiling.

[oldflagswanted]

DDR vs. US poles ???

...Deutsche Post would not ship the flag staff
...have any idea if the East German flags and
pole toppers are compatible with American made
military guidon, or flag staffs. ...Sincerely,
DeWayne

Hello DeWayne:
IMO DDR trooped unit flag poles are wider & longer
than US unit flag poles, ~3.5cm vs. ~3.0cm respectively
in diameter. DDR poles being for the most part the same
width until the very top/bottom ends, where US poles
slightly taper for several feet towards the top/bottom.

[GREENEDUDLEY]

On my orignal flag staffs that came with Kampfgruppen flags and some others, the pole was the same diameter the enitre length and on the top end the wood was trimmed to fit into the pole top. None of them have a metal piece on the bottom end like the US guidons.

[uscob]

[quote=RedCatcher1986;4892569]Gentlemen,

Deutsche Post would not ship the flag staff in itself as even in two pieces it exceeded their length limits.

Must say that this is not True as the Pole Sections are not longer than 2 Meters.
You can send them with an Additional fee of 20 Euros as a bulky Parcel with a total Lengt of 2 Meters. They say 200 cm. The "Normal" Fee goes for up to 120cm. Additional 20 Euros for 200cm.
Maybe it's different from Coutry to country, but then you can use a different Parcel Service.

[RedCatcher1986]

As previously said they probably don't belong together, unfortunately lots of flags were de-poled after the demise of the DDR preumably for ease of storage, even the TLO flag book produced in the early 90's has some flags mismatched with incorrect tops.

Display... If you are that tight for space you could always place it on perspex and screw it to the ceiling.

I currently one have one gap in my display room and that open space is where a map of the USSR is going to be placed. My collection is for the Cold War including U.S., USSR, DDR & FRD I was looking into the idea of getting a display case and hanging the flag inside the case along the back base and then placing items on the shelf so it would provide and back drop complete with the lighting of course. Thanks for your assistance.