After the establishment of
North Rhine-Westphalia in 1946, the tricolor was first introduced in 1948, but was not formally adopted until 1953. The plain variant of the tricolor is considered the
civil flag and state ensign, while government authorities use the
state flag (
Landesdienstflagge) which is defaced with the
state's coat of arms. On 2 June 1999, the
federal cabinet introduced a
corporate design for the German government which defined "green" as RGB 0,133,74 or PANTONE® 7731, and red as RGB 0,119,182 or PANTONE® 307, but it is unclear if these guidelines apply to the states, and in any case, in practice the specific shades can vary wildly, especially in unofficial uses. == History ==