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The flag of Hesse consists of a horizontal bicolor: red above white, in a 3:5 ratio. The state service flag (Landesdienstflagge), reserved for official government use, additionally displays the state coat of arms — the crowned 'colorful lion' on blue — in the center. The red-and-white colors derive from the medieval Ludovingian dynasty of Thuringia, from which the House of Hesse split. The flag was officialized by the Hessian Constitution of 1 December 1946.
The coat of arms of Hesse features a crowned lion rampant 'barry of ten silver and red' (with ten horizontal stripes alternating silver and red, also called Bunter Löwe — the colorful lion) on an azure (blue) field. The lion is depicted with red claws, tongue, and royal crown. The shield is ensigned with the people's crown. The arms derive from the medieval Ludovingian dynasty of the Landgraves of Thuringia, whose Hessian branch became the Landgraves of Hesse after the 13th-century War of Thuringian Succession. The current arms were officialized by the Hessian Constitution of 1948.