Some German Flag Education Please!

[MySonsDad]

The kid and I ran across an old Nazi flag yesterday. We snapped a few photos, with my kid’s cell phone, but sadly they are way out of focus, not providing much detail at all. I can tell you though that the flag is in HORRIBLE condition with several tear repairs made (looked like old repairs) and lots of edging that is tattered and torn. The flag measures roughly 34 inches by 74 inches. I did notice that all the pieces of the flag (white circle and swastika) where sewn on, not painted. I did not think to look however, if the flag was double sided or not but if I had to make a choice either way, I’d say that it was not, or I think I would have made a mental note of it. Because of the flags condition, we did not unfold it all the way, as we did not have a large surface area to work with, so I did not get a chance to look for any marking or labels etc.

What I found intriguing about this flag is what was written on it in English, as can be seen in the photo below:



The writing reads: “Spotting Flag Used To Identify Landmarks From The Air”. This being written on the flag leads me to believe this might be a wartime bring back souvenir.


Blurry photo but shows white thread stitching on the outter edge of the flag


Another blurry photo but it does show that the three elements of the flag are stitched on, not painted.



Because of the horrible condition of this flag, I would not normally give it a second look, as well as the fact that we know nothing about German militaria and also the space it would take to display it, mounting etc. I have no intention of purchasing this flag, unless of course I learn that I am walking by some type of real treasure, so thought I’d throw it out here just in case. So I am consulting the experts here for an opinion and a little education on what, in general, this flag might be and if a tattered old flag like this might be worth a buck or two.

Thanks,

Russ & Son

[M18922]

well some proper photos of the flag itself might help. i think it has charictar.

cheers,
-Patrick

[MySonsDad]

Yes, I know some good photos would be great, just wasn't in the cards yesterday. A local street fair had this shop packed with people so I was not going to ask them to lay it all out for me.

If I don't get a bunch of thumbs down and Run for the Hills, on this thread then I might sneak back and ask the guy to lay it all out for me so that I can inspect and photograph better, but I don't want to waist his time of by the general description I have given it can be acertained that this no more than a vintage shop rag.

It certainly does have a bit of character though don't it?

Russ

[António Fragoeiro]

It does indeed, maybe very well be a great flag.
Cheers.
Nuno

[MySonsDad]

Well, after spending several hours looking at hundreds of images of german flags, I've come to the conclusion that the germans had far too many variations and sizes of flags making it next to impossible for a unknowing person, such as myself to give it a proper identification

On the plus side, I've got a decent feel for the pricing for flags of this size and based on what I have learned, giving consideration to the extreemly poor condition of this particular flag, it is WAY over priced at $150.

However, I think I will take another trip down to the shop and see if we can't lay the entire flag out so that I can get a good look see at how extensive the damage really is. What intrigues me about this flag is that it looks pretty certain that it is a war bring back, giving it more of a story to tell, which to me is far more valuable than a flag of near mint condition. If the damage is mainly on the edges and the mane body of the flag is in fair enough condition, I think I'll throw a low ball offer at the guy, maybe 60-75 bucks and see if he bites!

[Eddie]

good luck on lowballin' em! Sounds like it could be a vehicle identification flag: if so, look for grommets on the side, should be one-sided, without rope. These were used to prevent the Luftwaffe from bombing their own guys with friendly fire! I think they're very cool flags personally. Search the forum for "vehicle identification flags" and you should find a few threads about these.
Best,
Eddie

[MySonsDad]

Thanks for the input Eddie, I'll do a bit more searching as you suggested. Will also bring this information with me when I go to look at the flag again.

Regards,

Russ

[MySonsDad]

OK...so the wife is out of town this weekend so I think me and the kid are finally going to take a trip back to this place and take a look at this flag, assuming it is still there. I sure hope it looks a lot better spread out than it did folded up as from what we could see, it was a mess!

[GIZMO8Z]

good luck!

[MySonsDad]

Thanks GIZ.... I'm not too optomistic about this but who knows, we need to go look anyway.