Fun fact · Our own analysis of Google Trends data, not official statistics. How we measured it
German flag fever
Google search interest for “Deutschlandfahne” by state (0–100), January–October 2026
Nobody sells flag statistics by state, so we asked Google. In the World Cup year 2026 every eastern state searched for “Deutschlandfahne” more than the West: an index of 80 against 50. Saxony-Anhalt searched five times as intensively as Hamburg.
Inner-German border 1949–1990 ·16 states · January–October 2026
Former West
50
excl. Berlin
Former East
80
excl. Berlin
Berlin
45
The East's figure is 1.6× the West's (January–October 2026).
By state
- Sachsen-Anhalt100
- Brandenburg93
- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern82
- Sachsen69
- Thüringen64
- Schleswig-Holstein64
- Rheinland-Pfalz62
- Nordrhein-Westfalen58
- Niedersachsen58
- Hessen46
- Berlin45
- Baden-Württemberg43
- Bremen41
- Bayern40
- Saarland35
- Hamburg19
January–October 2026
How we measured this
Google Trends, region Germany, resolution by state, web search for the term “Deutschlandfahne”, January–October 2026, pulled on 4 November 2026. Google scales each state from 0 to 100 relative to the state with the highest share of searches for the term (100 = most interest). East and West are averages of the state values weighted by population (our calculation). A search index measures interest, not sales.
- Part of the gap is vocabulary: “Fahne” is more common in the East, while the alternative term “Deutschland Flagge” leans slightly West (index 76 East vs 85 West, May–July 2026).
- The gap was much smaller at Euro 2024 (71 vs 60).
- Google samples its data, so repeat pulls vary by a few points; our repeat pulls moved the East/West ratio by at most 0.1.
- Small states with few searches can show 0 when they fall below Google’s reporting threshold.
Show the table
| State | Side | January–October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Saarland | west | 35 |
| Berlin | berlin | 45 |
| Brandenburg | east | 93 |
| Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | east | 82 |
| Sachsen | east | 69 |
| Sachsen-Anhalt | east | 100 |
| Thüringen | east | 64 |
| Schleswig-Holstein | west | 64 |
| Hamburg | west | 19 |
| Niedersachsen | west | 58 |
| Bremen | west | 41 |
| Nordrhein-Westfalen | west | 58 |
| Hessen | west | 46 |
| Rheinland-Pfalz | west | 62 |
| Baden-Württemberg | west | 43 |
| Bayern | west | 40 |