Kulmbach County (Oberfranken District, Bavaria, Germany)

Landkreis Kulmbach

Last modified: 2004-12-29 by santiago dotor
Keywords: landkreis kulmbach | kulmbach county | coat of arms: per pale (lion: black) | coat of arms: per pale (eagle: white) | coat of arms: base (quartered: black-white) |
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by Stefan Schwoon Coat-of-arms adopted 28 August 1975, flag adopted 20 February 1989

• Description
• Flag 1975-1989

See also:

• Oberfranken District (Bezirk Oberfranken, Upper Franconia)
• County Flags (Bavaria / Bayern, Germany)
• Bavaria (Bayern, Germany)
• Germany

Kulmbach is the only Bavarian county known to have changed its flag after the first grant. On 28.08.1975 a white-red-yellow flag was adopted, on 20.02.1989 the middle stripe was changed to black. I do not know the reason for the change, but the justification for the red stripe seems dubious in the first place when looking at the coat-of-arms. Sources: Linder and Schmidt 2000, arms image from Stadler 1964-1972.

Stefan Schwoon, 3 October 2001

The red stripe possibly stood for the red eagle of Brandenburg or the red Main river in the former arms (1967-1975) — except that the new arms were granted simultaneously with the white-red-yellow flag! From Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Arms website:

The old (left) arms were granted on March 6, 1967, the new arms on August 28, 1975.

The upper part of the old arms showed a white eagle, taken from the arms of both the arms of the Counts of Andechs-Meranien and the Counts of Orlamünde, and the red eagle of Brandenburg. The former two families ruled a major part of the area before and after 1248 respectively. The eagle of Brandenburg symbolises the rule of the Markgraves of Nuremberg and the Counts of Kulmbach-Bayreuth, who originated from the Brandenburg area. These families also played a major role in the history of the area.

The lower part of the old arms showed the red and white Main rivers that flow through the area. The background colours of the lower part are taken from the arms of Bavaria and symbolise the fact that the area belongs to Bavaria since 1810.

The new arms show in the first half the arms of the State of Bamberg, derived from the old arms of the Stadtsteinach district. The [white] eagle remains from the old arms, whereas the point shows the arms of the Zollern dynasty, which also played a major role in the history of the district.

Literature: Stadler 1964-1972, Stadler and Egloffstein 1990.

Santiago Dotor, 15 January 2004

by Stefan Schwoon Flag and coat-of-arms adopted 28 August 1975