Oberfranken District (Bavaria, Germany)

Bezirk Oberfranken, Upper Franconia

Last modified: 2013-12-09 by german editorial team
Keywords: bavaria | bezirk oberfranken | oberfranken district | franconia: upper | coat of arms: tierced per pale (lion) | coat of arms: tierced per pale (quartered) | coat of arms: tierced per pale (crancelin) |
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by Marcus Schmöger

• Description
• Hanging Flag
• County Flags (Landkreisflaggen):
  • Bamberg County (Landkreis Bamberg)
  • Bayreuth County (Landkreis Bayreuth)
  • Coburg County (Landkreis Coburg)
  • Forchheim County (Landkreis Forchheim)
  • Hof County (Landkreis Hof)
  • Kronach County (Landkreis Kronach)
  • Kulmbach County (Landkreis Kulmbach)
  • Lichtenfels County (Landkreis Lichtenfels)
  • Wunsiedel County (Landkreis Wunsiedel)
• County-Free City Flags (Flaggen kreisfreier Städte):
  • City of Bamberg (Stadt Bamberg)
  • City of Bayreuth (Stadt Bayreuth)
  • City of Coburg (Stadt Coburg)
  • City of Hof (Stadt Hof)
• Counties before the 30th June 1972 municipal reform:
  • Bamberg County (Landkreis Bamberg)
  • Bayreuth County (Landkreis Bayreuth)
  • Coburg County (Landkreis Coburg)
  • Ebermannstadt County (Landkreis Ebermannstadt)
  • Forchheim County (Landkreis Forchheim)
  • Höchstadt County (Landkreis Höchstadt)
  • Hof County (Landkreis Hof)
  • Kronach County (Landkreis Kronach)
  • Kulmbach County (Landkreis Kulmbach)
  • Lichtenfels County (Landkreis Lichtenfels)
  • Münchberg County (Landkreis Münchberg)
  • Naila County (Landkreis Naila)
  • Pegnitz County (Landkreis Pegnitz)
  • Rehau County (Landkreis Rehau)
  • Stadtsteinach County (Landkreis Stadtsteinach)
  • Staffelstein County (Landkreis Staffelstein)
  • Wunsiedel County (Landkreis Wunsiedel)

See also:

• Franconia (Franken)
• Higher Communal Associations (Höhere Kommunalverbände, including Bezirke)
• District, County and Municipal Flags (Bavaria / Bayern, Germany)
• Bavaria (Bayern, Germany)
• Germany

The coat-of-arms of Oberfranken (since 30th May 1960) is very complicated. It combines the Franconian "saw-tooth" with symbols for Bamberg (the lion), the burgraves of Nuremberg (later princes of Brandenburg-Bayreuth: quartered Argent and Sable) and Coburg (the green rue crown). The official flag was adopted and approved together with the arms. It is horizontally divided white-red with the arms in the center. Source: Linder 1997 which is available online at the Der Flaggenkurier website. Further information at the Bezirk Oberfranken website (only illustration of the arms).

Marcus Schmöger, 27 January 2001

The lion covered with a thin white line [bendlet sinister] represents the Bishopric of Bamberg which owned large parts of the territory until the area was allocated to Bavaria. This image also appears in the arms of many counties (Kreise) in the area.

Stefan Schwoon, 30 January 2001

I have not got yet official information from the Bezirk to clarify the question of how the flag actually looks like, especially if it is used as a normal horizontal flag or as a hanging flag (Banner). A photo taken recently (April 2001) at the Bayreuth town hall shows the flag of the Bezirk Oberfranken as a horizontal flag. The above image is based on this photo. Other variants of the flag are used as well.

Marcus Schmöger, 10 May 2001

by Marcus Schmöger

Obviously there are also hanging flags used in Oberfranken, not only hoisted (horizontal) flags. My image is made after a drawing in Dieter Linder, The "Höhere Kommunalverbände" in Germany, oral presentation during the 19th International Congress of Vexillology at York (23-27 July 2001) .

Marcus Schmöger, 21 October 2001