Flag days in Germany 2026 and 2027

Germany does not have a calendar full of flag days. The Federal Government itself describes the German tradition of flag flying as restrained: only a few buildings fly flags every day, such as the supreme federal authorities in Berlin and Bonn, the official residences of the Federal President, the Bundestag, the Bundesrat and the Federal Constitutional Court. All other federal buildings fly flags on fixed days set out in the Federal Government’s flag decree of 22 March 2005. According to Protokoll Inland, this very restriction is meant to underline the special significance of those days.

The flag days under the flag decree

Section II of the decree lists ten regular general flag days:

Yearly flag orders

Some days of remembrance are not among the regular flag days, but flags are flown every year because the Federal Ministry of the Interior issues a special order for them. Protokoll Inland lists:

• 11 March: National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Terrorist Violence, since 2022, at half-mast.
• 15 June: National Veterans’ Day, since 2025, full mast.
• 20 June: Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Flight and Expulsion, since 2015, full mast.
• World Maritime Day: only for federal authorities in the port cities of the five coastal states, on the changing date set by the International Maritime Organization.

All dates in 2026 and 2027

The table contains the flag days of the decree and the yearly orders. The National Day of Mourning is calculated according to the decree’s rule. There are no elections to the Bundestag or the European Parliament in 2026 and 2027.

Flag days of the federal states

The federal states govern flag flying at their own authorities. According to the overview by Protokoll Inland, all states adopt the federal flag days, and many add days of their own. Some examples:

• Berlin: among others 8 March (International Women’s Day), 18 March (anniversary of 18 March 1848), 8 May (anniversary of the liberation from National Socialism) and 9 November.
• Bavaria: 1 December, the anniversary of the referendum on the Bavarian Constitution, and the Day of the Homeland (Tag der Heimat).
• North Rhine-Westphalia: 23 August, the founding of the state in 1946.
• Hamburg: 7 May, Overseas Day (Überseetag).
• State and local elections: in many states, election days for the state parliament and local councils are also flag days.

Which days apply in a state can be read in that state’s regulation, which Protokoll Inland links for all states.

Then and now

The list has changed over the decades. According to Protokoll Inland, New Year’s Day was a regular flag day from 1955 to 1983. Flags have been flown on 17 June since 1955, first as the “Day of German Unity” and, after reunification, as the anniversary of the popular uprising in the GDR. Since 1991, 3 October has been the Day of German Unity. 20 July has been a flag day since 1964, and 27 January since the decree of 2000. Europe Day was marked on 5 May until 2005 and on 9 May since then.

How flags are flown on half-mast days is described in the guide to half-mast. Why the major church holidays are not flag days is explained in the guide to flags on holidays.