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City of Heide (Germany)

Stadt Heide, Kreis Dithmarschen, Schleswig-Holstein

3:5

image by Jörg Majewski, 15 Mar 2006
adopted 31 January 1951

City of Heide

See also:

City of Heide

Description of flag:
The ratio is 3:5. The red sheet is divided by two narrow, horizontal, white stripes. Betweeen the stripes is are white figures as follows: St. George (in North German: Jürgen) is killing the dragon by a lance. He is accompanied by a tilted anchor (hoist) and a bunch of heather (fly).
Meaning:
In 1434 on the heather of Rüsdorf the representatives of eight Ditmarsian parishes met with emissaries of the city of Hamburg for peace negotiations. This place later on developed and became the village of Heide, which means simply "heather". The general assemblies of Dithmarschen were transferred from Meldorf to Heide. In 1447 the supreme court held its sessions also in Heide. The chapel dedicated to St.Jürgen was built after 1434 and became a church and seat of a proper parish in 1460. Hence the village gained the right to have an own seal, which displayed St. Jürgen. The current coat of arms is based upon the oldest parish seal - prints existed since 1461. The bunch of heather is a canting element. The meaning of the anchor is unknown. Heide gained city rights in 1869. Red and white are the colours of Dithmarschen. Source: Reißmann 1997, p.170 and Stadler 1970, p.101

Flag and coat of arms were approved on 31 January 1952. The artist is Wilhelm Horst Lippert from Brunsbüttel.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 6 Feb 2013

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