Provisional Civil Ensign - Definition and Overview

The Provisional Civil Ensign, or C-Pennant (German, C-Doppelstander) was the temporary national flag imposed on Germany during its occupation by the Allied Control Council after World War II. It consisted of the international signal flag for the letter "C" with a triangle cut out of the center-right.

Pursuant to international law, it is necessary for all ships to carry some sort of marker identifying their country of origin; it has been suggested that the flag actually selected was so chosen because its colors (red, white and blue) are the same as those found on the national flags of three of the four occupying powers (France, the United Kingdom and the United States). However, it was officially stated that "this flag shall not be honored, and shall not be dipped as a salute to war and merchant ships of whichever nation."

The Provisional Civil Ensign was succeeded as the flag of Germany by the black-red-gold tricolor originally used during the interbellum Weimar Republic by both the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) and the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) when both came into being in 1949; ten years later the latter added a device in the center in order to distinguish itself from the former.