Former Colonies and other Overseas Territories (Germany)

Frühere deutsche Schutzgebiete

Last modified: 2005-01-29 by santiago dotor
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• Former Protectorates and other Overseas Territories
• Flags used in the German Colonies
• Flag of the Colonial Governors 1898-1919 (Flag of the Governors of German East Africa and Kiaochao / Flagge der Gouverneure für Deutsch-Ostafrika und Kiautschou)
• Colonial Flags 1914
  • Cameroon (Kamerun)
  • German East Africa (Deutsch Ostafrika)
  • German Southwest Africa (Deutsch Südwestafrika)
  • Togo (Togoland)
  • German New Guinea (Deutsch-Neu-Guinea)
  • Samoa
• Ralik Islands Flag 1878-1885
• German East African Company (Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft)
• German West African Company (Deutsch-Westafrikanische Gesellschaft)
• German New Guinea Company 1885-1899 (Deutsch Neuguinea-Kompagnie)
• New Swabia 1937-1945 (Neuschwabenland)
• Gross-Friedrichsburg 1683-1717 (Brandenburg, later Prussia)

See also:

• Reich Colonial League (Third Reich colonial claims)
• German Empire 1870-1919
• Germany

Other sites:

• Flaggen in den Deutschen Schutzgebieten und dem Pachtgebiet Kiautschau (Flags in the German Protectorates and the Lease Territory of Kiaochao, German text only) by Jörg Karaschewski
• Map of Colonial Africa 1912 by Joaquín de Salas
• The German Colonies (German text only):
  • Cameroons
  • German East Africa
  • German New Guinea and the Islands District
  • German Southwest Africa
  • Kiaochao
  • Samoa
  • Togo
  • Groß-Friedrichsburg
  (at the Heritage Group of former Servicemen in the Protectorates and Overseas Territories — Friends of the former German Protectorates Association website)
• Tsingtao — A chapter of German colonial history in China 1897-1914 at the German Historical Museum
• Eine Flagge auf dem Papier: Die Flagge von Tanga (A Flag on Paper: The flag of Tanga, German text only) by Jörg Karaschewski at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Flaggenkunde's Flaggenkurier website

Dates when the territories were lost are shown in square brackets:

Africa

• Cameroons (Kamerun), nowadays Cameroon and parts of the Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon and Nigeria [1916]
• German East Africa (Deutsch Ostafrika), nowadays Tanganyika (continental part of Tanzania), Burundi, Rwanda and the Ruvuma triangle (nowadays part of Mozambique) [1919]
• German Southwest Africa (Deutsch Sudwestafrika), nowadays Namibia [1915]
• Gross-Friedrichsburg, nowadays in southern Ghana [1717]
• Togoland, nowadays Togo and the eastern part of Ghana [1914]

Asia

• Kiaochao / Tsingtao (Pachtgebiet Kiautschou / Tsingtau), nowadays Qingdao, part of China [1914]

Oceania

• Carolinas Islands (Karolinen-Inseln), nowadays the Federated States of Micronesia [1914]
• German New Guinea (Deutsch-Neu-Guinea), nowadays the northern half of Papua New Guinea [1919]
• Marianas Islands (Marianen Inseln), nowadays Northern Marianas [1914]
• Nauru [1914]
• Palaos Islands (Palau-Inseln), nowadays Palau [1914]
• Ralik Islands (Ralik-Inseln), nowadays Marshall Islands [1914]
• Samoa, nowadays Samoa [1914]

In Schurdel 1995 there is a short chapter, illustrated with some flags used in the former German colonies. When the German colonies were not represented heraldically [i.e. with a particular coat-of-arms to display on the national flag], there were special flags flying:

• The flag of the authorities of the Reich (Reichsdienstflagge im Bereiche des Auswärtigen Amtes, einschl. der Kaiserl. Behörden und Fahrzeuge in den deutschen Schutzgebieten), with the exception of Kiautschou.
• The flag of the governors of Kiautschou and East Africa: black over white over red with the Reich eagle on the white stripe without crown.
• The flags of several Merchant companies operating there. The model of the flag should contain the colours black, white, red. Here are some of them:
  • Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft: white with a black cross and a red canton containing five white stars 2:1:2.
  • Westafrikanische Gesellschaft: white with a red cross fimbriated white and black. In the centre appears a black eagle on a white disc. In eac