Flag or Banner?? Authentic?? Help?

[michaeldeb0rah]

Hello all,
I have ventured into another realm of my unknown, but thanks to you guys knowledge I know not all is lost. This is a 44” x 75” cottony double sided cloth with what appears to me to be a sewn On white circle with printed swastika. Notice the white liner in the end where maybe a rope goes if it’s a flag or where a pole might be inserted if it is a banner. Any and all info about this would be appreciated. Including a year(s) of manufacture Thanks in advance!!!

[Rakkasan187]

This is a good period banner (This could be hung as a vertical banner or used as a traditional horizontal flag) with a pole through reinforced slot on the hoist side. Typical zigzag pattern stitching of the roundel and the printed swastika are both typical of Third Reich era 1933-1945 made flags. No makers marks will make it difficult to pin down an exact year this was made during the war years.

Since this is two sided I would lean more towards this being a flag where the roundel and swastika could be seen on both sides.

Podium banners tend to only have the roundel and swastika on one side since it would be suspended from a podium or some other type of furniture where only one side needs to be seen.

Good looking flag/banner. I would have no issues adding this one to my collection.

Best regards

Smitty

[michaeldeb0rah]

Smitty, Thank you for explaining the similarities and defining features of each style of display. Is there any particular place(s) that a maker’s mark would be visible if one were on a flag/banner of this sort? I am interested in case I run across another or if someone else reading this had the same question. Thank you,
Mike

[Rakkasan187]

Mike,

Manufactures marks or sewn labels will usually be on the reinforced hoist end of the flag. Some of the makers had sewn labels while others used ink stampings.. Now a word of caution, ink stamps can be heavily faked and flags embellished with all sorts of fantasy markings and dates. Sewn labels have also seen copies being made as well, so my advice is to look at other examples of known makers of flags and banners so you will be able to recognize real from fake.

There is an excellent topic about this on another forum (WAF) forum. A now deceased member (and friend) Ben Weed was one of the most knowledgeable person I knew regarding flags. He had a topic about identifying real and fake flags which was over 30 pages long. It was one of the most in-depth topics.

Here is a link to Ben's thread..

Wehrmacht-Awards.com Militaria Forums

Smitty

[michaeldeb0rah]

Smitty, thank you again for sharing. Width and depth of knowledge is the hero of the ignorant like me, but that same width and depth grows the next generation when there are good folks like you to know where it may be hidden and willing to share it. Thank you,
Mike