This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website

Gotha City (Germany)

Stadt Gotha, Landkreis Gotha, Thüringen

Last modified: 2021-04-03 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: gotha | bishop | stripes(9) |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors


[Gotha city flag]
1:2 image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2019 		[Gotha plain city flag]
1:2 image by Stefan Schwoon and Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2019 		   

See also:

Gotha City

Gotha Flag

It is a horizontal 9-stripes flag of alternating red, yellow and black stripes. The yellow stripes have half width. The coat of arms is in the centre of the flag (see left image above). There is also a plain 9-stripes version (see right image above).
Source: this online catalogue
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2019

Gotha Banner

[Gotha city banner]
2:1 image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2019 		[Gotha plain city banner]
2:1 image by Stefan Schwoon and Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2019 		   

It is a vertical 9-stripes banner of alternating red, yellow and black stripes. The yellow stripes have half width. The coat of arms is in the centre of the banner (see left image above). There is also a plain 9-stripes version (see right image above).
Source: this online catalogue
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2019

Gotha Coat of Arms

Shield parted per fess, above Or, beneath barry of four of Sable and Gules, over all a bishop nimbed Or, dressed Gules sitting on a chair Or upon a basement Argent and holding a crozier Or in pale in his right hand and a book Sable in his left hand, in chief an impending mural crown Gules with five visible towers, the whole flanked by a black inscription "ST.GOTE" (left) "HARDVS" (right).
Meaning:
The arms show St. Gothardus (961-1038), Bishop of Hildesheim. He already appears in the oldest known city seal from 1250. The bishop is the patron saint of the city. When he was abbot of Hersfeld Monastery, which owned many estates around Gotha, he prompted the construction of the first city walls and of the St. Margarethe Church. He also established local gardens. A festival to honour him is celebrated every year on the first weekend in May.
The basic pattern has never changed but was varied in details. It is the same with the ratio of stripes on the flag. But the yellow stripes had always been narrower. The flag is in use at least since 1939 but probably much older. In the 1990ies plain flags and banners had been in use prdominantly.
The current patterns incl. the ratio of flag and banners as 1:2 are fixed in the local Hauptstazung, version 24 October 2001 in §3(2) (coat of arms) and §3(3) (flag and banner)
Sources: Ralf Hartemink's webpage and German WIKIPEDIA
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2019

back to Gotha cities and municipalities click here