<P> The Frankfurt Parliament had declared the black - red - gold as the official colours of the German Confederation, with the red in the tricolour most likely referencing the Hanseatic League, and the gold and black symbolizing Austria as its empire, considered to be "German", had an influence over (what would become) southern Germany . The Flags of the Holy Roman Empire was just black and gold . </P> <P> There are many theories in circulation regarding the origins of the colour scheme used in the 1848 flag . It has been proposed that the colours were those of the Jena Students' League (Jenaer Burschenschaft), one of the radically minded Burschenschaften banned by Metternich in the Carlsbad Decrees; the colours are mentioned in their canonical order in the seventh verse of Daniel August von Binzer's student song Zur Auflösung der Jenaer Burschenschaft ("On the Dissolution of the Jena Students' League") quoted by Johannes Brahms in his Academic Festival Overture . Another claim goes back to the uniforms (mainly black with red facings and gold buttons) of the Lützow Free Corps, comprising mostly university students and formed during the struggle against the occupying forces of Napoleon . Whatever the true explanation, these colours soon came to be regarded as the national colours of Germany during this brief period, and especially after their reintroduction during the Weimar period, they have become synonymous with liberalism in general . </P> <P> The German national flag or Bundesflagge (federal flag), containing only the black - red - gold tricolour, was introduced as part of the (West) German constitution in 1949 . Following the creation of separate government and military flags in later years, the plain tricolour is now used as the German civil flag and civil ensign . This flag is also used by non-federal authorities to show their connection to the federal government, e.g. the authorities of the German states use the German national flag together with their own flag . </P> <P> The government flag of Germany is officially known as the Dienstflagge der Bundesbehörden (state flag of the federal authorities) or Bundesdienstflagge for short . Introduced in 1950, the government flag is the civil flag defaced with the Bundesschild ("Federal Shield"), which overlaps with up to one fifth of the black and gold bands . The Bundesschild is a variant of the coat of arms of Germany, whose main differences are the illustration of the eagle and the shape of the shield: the Bundesschild is rounded at the base, whereas the standard coat of arms is pointed . The government flag may only be used by federal government authorities and its use by others is an offence, punishable with a fine . However, public use of flags similar to the Bundesdienstflagge (e.g. using the actual coat of arms instead of the Bundesschild) is tolerated, and such flags are sometimes seen at international sporting events . </P>

What does the red mean on the german flag