Left Party MP Cansin Köktürk was thrown out of a German parliament plenary chamber on Wednesday for wearing a t-shirt with the word "Palestine" printed on it, a move deemed a political statement by the parliamentary leadership.
Bundestag President Julia Klöckner intervened during the session, reminding MPs that political messages on clothing are not permitted in the chamber.
While the Bundestag does not have a detailed dress code, its rules require MPs and visitors to dress "in keeping with the prestige" of the institution. Enforcement of this standard is left to the discretion of the session chair.
this post was submitted on 04 Jun 2025
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God forbid politicians make political statements.
Not with their clothes, though. The political debate in the Bundestag is conducted through words and to be fair, that seems like a reasonable idea.
AfD members of parliament are routinely wearing German flag pins, which carries a pretty obvious message coming from a far right party.
LOL. it needs it twice, so again LOL! this comment is amazing! xD
How dare Germans wear a German Flag pin.
Otoh: We normal germans are wirded out how much sexual tension some Americans have with a striped piece auf cloth.
It's cultural differences, there is simply not culture of flag worshipping in Germany, exept from the far right. For every one else the flag is just to Mark goverment buildings, or anonce an offical delegation. Soccer/sport events are the only exeption, but even then it's not the flag that is worshipped, but the flag is again just used to mark yourself as a worshipper of the team.
In Germany (because of ours history) only fascists (and clueless normies during sport events) think the German flag is something you'd consider associating yourself with. If you're only a tiny bit left leaning it's yucky af even thinking about e. g. wearing a t-shirt with a German flag. Ew.
Pins are quite common with conservative politicians, and I'd say they're subdued enough.
Have, for example, Daniel Günther with the SH coat of arms. I mean he's prime minister, why not.
This was the case until 2006, though. Today, is really not like that anymore.
Primarily because the nazis are back.
The Neo-Nazis I know carry different flags. Not the one from the Bundesrepublik, which is too woke for them.
The local Neonazi recruitment group carries germany flags to not scare of faschist-curious people.
I wouldn't say that
The flag that stands for a democratic Germany is something only fascists associate with? Interesting take I've gotta say...
No, if you are versed with german culture you know that there is no widespread flag worshipping culture here. Flags are used to mark government buildings and in some international contexts. But when you are a MdB in the Bundestag there is no need to mark yourself as a german politican, because that is just obvious. So when you go out of your way to do it anyway it carries a message with it, and if you are a member of a far right extremist party, the message is pretty clear.
There's a difference between worshipping a flag like in the US or really any autocratic system and a relaxed approach to the own flag. I know and acknowledge what the flag of my country stands for and although I don't need to wave it in everyone's face, I still can connect to it. I respect that you might think differently about this, but I think the German flag itself isn't what makes a person right-wing or even far-right.
Thing is: No one not far right wing ever has the urge to wave a german flag her in germany outside of sport events or the esc. Because like i said there is no culture around it.
Honestly, when I pass a place that has a German flag on a flag pole in front of the house, I don't assume it is a far right person living there. I don't know where you live but maybe in certain regions, flag poles are a bit more common than in others and hence, more German flags can be seen there.
you sure bet i assume a far right person is living there.
if you feel the need to setup a flagpole in front of your house you want to make a (political) statement.
And that statement can only be a far right one?
I repeat myself again: If you pull up a German flag: Yes, because there simply is no culture around the german flag outside of sport events, government buildings and far right contexts.
If you pull up a gay pride flag that would be an unusual way to display (normaly they are just fixed to windows), but that I would let that fly 8pun not intended) as not being far right.
Well I guess we won't agree.
If you don't want to pull up a German flag in front of your house or wherever, that's totally fine with me and I can understand why you wouldn't want to.
But to universally apply a label to whoever does something you don't want to and especially this label (far right) is sweeping judgement and simplifying the world into black and white. And I think we don't need any more of that today.
But that's just my opinion.
Note that I said far right not extrem right, i deliberatly left a graytone in there.
Also I didn't made that culture of mainly far right using the German flag, I'm just stating a fact. If you want you can try to establish a centrist or left wing german-flag-culture. I wouldn't be mad if you succed.
The same people who show German flags on their clothes or social media profile pictures usually show up when there is some right wing protest, or next to some racist online comments, so it's no longer a flag but more like the maga hat. It also serves as a sign so guys with small dicks can find each other.
Things have shifted in the last what 20 years: Back then no Nazi would ever be caught dead with a "black-red-mustard" flag, Nazi flags are outlawed so they were using imperial flags (black-white-red). Changed with the "Monday demonstrations", and the Nazis, while infiltrating the AfD, adopting less overt symbolism. "Nono we're not the Nazis don't you see those boneheads there marching with the imperial flag those are Nazis".
As far as use by non-fascists is concerned, it's still generally limited to the extreme right (think Burschenschaften), or the world cup. Which, btw, was started by Turks: Dunno remember which but Turkey made it into the group stage at some point, lots of Germans with Turkish descent turned the balconies red, then Turkey got kicked out, and all of them, without batting an eye, switched to flying black-red-gold.
oh. well i dont get it. i mean yes, you never were just born into being a german so being proud makes no sense, if you think about it. But if you helped in any way making your country or region better then its "your" Flag, no? Can germans wear the Bavaria or Bremen Flag on a shirt? what is then? i sincerely dont know,
What Germans can do in general life and what they can do in parliament is very different. In general life they can wear whatever they want except for nazi symbols. It's just parliament that has the no political clothing rule.
Yes they can. In Germany you can wear any flag you want except the Nazi Flag (and related symbols from the Third Reich).