National Colours of Germany - Use of Colours in Sports Etc.

Use of Colours in Sports Etc.

German sports teams often use White as main colour, as organisations that had been founded prior to 1919 often have chosen a combination of the contemporary national colours, mostly White with additional Black and/or Red as their colours. Examples are the German national football team fielded by the German Football Association (DFB) since 1908, German track and field athletes and rowers who use a red chest ring, and German race cars, which were, according to the international auto racing colour scheme, painted white with red numbers (since 1934, Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union have used unpainted metal, or Silver).

After 1918 and 1945, Black-Red-Gold became national colours (again). Organisations founded in that time frame, like the German American Football Association (AFVD) or the German Organisation of Non-Olympic sports IGNOV, often use black-red-gold in their colours, mostly on a white background. In recent years, most national teams of older organisations have added black-red-gold trim to their dresses.