All German states have a (flag of the state, sometimes known as a civil flag), that may be used by anyone. Some states have another variant, often showing the state coat of arms, called the (service flag or government flag, sometimes known as a state flag), normally for use by official government offices only. In addition to these flags, in a few states there are variants exclusively for the state senate, or for state-operated ships. In some cases, there are specific flags for high-ranking officials, mainly used as car flags. Frequently, the flags are used in vertical variants.
Since German reunification in 1990, there are 16 states and state flags.