City of Bergisch Gladbach (Germany)

Stadt Bergisch Gladbach, Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis, Northrhine-Westphalia

Last modified: 2012-09-14 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: bergisch gladbach | bensberg | fess | counterembattled | demi-lion | issuant | stag's head | guardant |
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• Introduction
• Current Flag
• Flag in use with Coat of Arms
• Banner in use with Coat of Arms
• Coat of Arms
• Tricolour reported 1972
• Borough of Bensberg reported 1972

• County and Municipal Flags (Northrhine-Westphalia / Nordrhein-Westfalen)
• Rheinisch-Bergisch cities and municipalities
• County of Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis
• Northrhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen)
• Germany

Introduction

The city of Bergisch Gladbach (including the former city of Bensberg since 1975; 105,901 inhabitants in 2008; 8,312 ha) is located 10 km east of Köln.
Ivan Sache, 21 Jun 2010

Current Flag

Description of flag:
The flag's ratio is 3:5. It is a green over white over green horizontal triband with ratio 1:4:1
Source: §2(2) of Hauptsatzung of the city of Bergisch Gladbach, version 16 December 2008, updated 27 October 2009
Klaus-Michael Schneider , 29 Jun 2011

Flag in use with Coat of Arms

Description of flag:
The flag's ratio is 3:5. It is a green over white over green horizontal triband with ratio 1:4:1, the coat of arms is in the centre of the white stripe.
Source:this online catalogue Klaus-Michael Schneider , 29 Jun 2011

Banner in use with Coat of Arms

Description of banner:
The banner of Bergisch Gladbach is white with two thin green stripes on the vertical edges and the municipal coat of arms in the middle.
The "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger", 17 June 2010, shows a photo as the evidence that the flags have been reinstalled in front of the town hall of Bergisch Gladbach. After a storm had destroyed in March 2010 one of the poles, new, stronger poles were erected (for a cost of 4,500 €).
Source: here Ivan Sache, 21 Jun 2010

Coat of Arms

Description of coat of arms:
Vert divided by a fess counter embattled argent on top a demi-lion issuant or armed and langued gules in base a stag's head guardant or. (German:"In grünem Schild über einem silbernen Wechselzinnenbalken einen wachsenden, rotbewehrten, goldenen Löwen, unter dem Wechselzinnenbalken einen herschauenden goldenen Hirschkopf") In 1975, the State graphist Eduard Prüssen was commissioned to design new arms, following the incorporation of Bensberg into Bergisch Gladbach. He used elements representative of the two former cities. The counter embattled fess comes from the oldest arms of the counts of Berg, owners of Bergisch Gladbach and Bensberg since the 12th century. The lion represents Bergisch Gladbach while the stag represents Bensberg.
Source: municipal website
Meaning: According to Stadler, the new arms were adopted on 6 April 1977. The former arms of Bergisch Gladbach, adopted in 1905, were designed from scratch. They are very similar in design to the modern municipal arms, with the following differences. The lion helds a hammer argent -symbolizing modern metal industry - in the right paw, the division of the shield is made of a wavy fess argent - representing brook (in German, "Bach") Strunde, and the base of the shield is charged with a sheet of paper argent - symbolyzing the traditional local paper-making industry, mentioned for the first time in 1582. The arms of Bensberg, granted in 1927, are based on a municipal seal from the 16th century. They show on a green shield a yellow stag's head with the escutcheon of the counts of Berg (argent a lion gules armed langued and crowned azure)
Sources:
Bergisch Gladbach, "Heraldry of the World" website
Bensberg, "Heraldry of the World" website
Stadler 1972, p.23
Ivan Sache, 21 Jun 2010

Description:
The green shield is divided per fess by a silver(=white), double crenelly line. Above is the upper half of a golden (=yellow), rampant lion. Below ais a golden, reguardant stag's head.
Meaning:
The stag's head is alluding to former city of Bensberg, which had been incorporated to Bergisch Gladbach in 1975. The lion and the crennely line (German: Wechselzinnenbalken) are symbolizing the counts of Berg, the former rulers. But due to heraldic rules the original colours of the lion had been changed from red two golden and those of the line from black to silver.
Source: municipal website
Klaus-Michael Schneider , 29 Jun 2011

Actually, Stadler refers to the old arms only, as all his books were published several years before the adoption in 1977. The old flag (described in Stadler 1972) was red, white and green (no further details provided, though). The current flag as shown on the photo reported by Ivan Sache is remarkable insofar as the fess counter-embattled is actually shown in a grey shade instead of the expected white.
Marcus Schmöger, 21 Jun 2010

Tricolour reported 1972

Description of former flag reported 1972:
The flag's ratio is 3:5. It is a red over white over green horizontal tricolour.
Source: Stadler 1972, p.23
Klaus-Michael Schneider , 29 Jun 2011

Borough of Bensberg reported 1972

Borough of Bensberg
Description of former city flag reported 1972:
The flag's ratio is 3:5. It is a green over yellow horizontal bicolour.
Source: Stadler 1972, p.23
Klaus-Michael Schneider , 29 Jun 2011

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