What is this flag?

[smartcooky]

I was going to say that I didn't think that was quite it, until you posted this link with terrible, low-res photos of it. I was thinking that the flag posted in the OP had too much white in the middle, and thought the black edges would have made the white area look much smaller on such a low-res photo.

Comparing to other low-res photos, the white actually seems to bleed more into the black, and thereby, increasing the surface area of the white.

At first, I thought that the black pattern in the middle was a hexagon with a round "dot" in each corner. That is what got my attention as I had never seen anything like it on any German flag (the image i posted was a very much enlarged part of a screen grab, like about 10% of the screen area, so very low res)

Well if you take the image norman alexander posted earlier, reduce its resolution to something approaching 10% of a screen grab and bump the contrast and brightness up to simulate a bright, sunny day.............

Voila!!

 

[Nihilianth]

At first, I thought that the black pattern in the middle was a hexagon with a round "dot" in each corner. That is what got my attention as I had never seen anything like it on any German flag (the image i posted was a very much enlarged part of a screen grab, like about 10% of the screen area, so very low res)

Well if you take the image norman alexander posted earlier, reduce its resolution to something approaching 10% of a screen grab and bump the contrast and brightness up to simulate a bright, sunny day.............

Voila!!

[qimg]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/98915197/JREF/FlagWW2.jpg[/qimg]

Nicely done! Thanks. This solidly confirms it in my mind.

 

[Cleon]

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

And those that do learn from it are doomed to watch helplessly as everyone else repeats it.

 

[Nihilianth]

And those that do learn from it are doomed to watch helplessly as everyone else repeats it.

Yup.

 

[elgarak]

The text says "Gau VII Schützenkompanie Benneckenstein". It's a sport shooting club ("Schützenverein") that existed since 1752 and still does. Gau 7 is the regional Schützenverein organization for Rheingau in the state of Hessen and also still exists, so the swastika seems to be there out of Zeitgeist without direct Nazi connection (edit: or imposed on all clubs of that kind as smartcooky's post above hints at).

"Gau" is a long-standing, perfectly normal country subdivision name. The English equivalent would be "shire" or "county".

However, because of the extensive use of the Nazis, the extensive authority they granted to officials on this subdivision level ("Gauleiter"), and the abuse often related to said officials, the use of this word for subdivisions is highly politically un-correct in Germany nowadays. I'm actually surprised that the mentioned "shooting club" still uses it, because they're mostly associated with Neo-Nazis if they do (shooting clubs are considered right wing anyway). I suspect it consists of a bunch of stubborn old guys.

The word "Gau" is thereby only used as part of location names (such as Rheingau, Aargau, Oberammergau etc.). "Gauleiter" is completely un-PC. It's considered derogatory to address a person in authority as such.

As such, once upon a time a high-ranking Bavarian politician complained that the spellchecker of Word would auto-correct his name, Gauweiler, to the highly un-PC "Gauleiter". Which is ironic, since said politician was considered fairly right-wing himself (being a member of the extreme conservative wing of the conservative party CSU).

 

[ddt]

"Gau" is a long-standing, perfectly normal country subdivision name. The English equivalent would be "shire" or "county".

The word "Gau" for what later would become counties goes back to Charlemagne, doesn't it?

However, because of the extensive use of the Nazis, the extensive authority they granted to officials on this subdivision level ("Gauleiter"), and the abuse often related to said officials, the use of this word for subdivisions is highly politically un-correct in Germany nowadays. I'm actually surprised that the mentioned "shooting club" still uses it, because they're mostly associated with Neo-Nazis if they do (shooting clubs are considered right wing anyway). I suspect it consists of a bunch of stubborn old guys.

It's not just this shooting club. The Hessian federation of shooting clubs is divided into Gaus, with "Gausportleiter" at their head.