The black–white–red German national flag 1892–1941.

With “die deutsche Wacht” in the third line, a reference to the jingoistic poem “Die Wacht am Rhein,” written by German Max Schneckenburger (1819–49) in response to the Rhine Crisis of 1840, which broke out when France threatened to mobilize its military and reclaim all territory west of the Rhine. These phrases are variations of Schneckenburger’s refrain: “Lieb’ Vaterland, magst ruhig sein, / Fest steht und treu die Wacht am Rhein.”

Schneckenburger, Max. “Die Wacht am Rhein.” In Deutsche Lieder: Auswahl aus seinem Nachlass, 19-20. Stuttgart, 1870. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/uc1.b3148536?urlappend=%3Bseq=27.

The heraldic eagle used by German emperors during the Holy Roman Empire and in the coat of arms of Imperial Germany (1871–1918).

Pan-Germanism was the notion of politically unifying European speakers of German and Germanic languages. The nationalist Pan-German League, founded in 1891, espoused a “class–based vision of Volksgemeinschaft, territorial expansion, and cultural homogeneity in Germany.”

Hofmeister, Björn. “Pan-German League.” In 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, edited by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson. Freie Universität Berlin, 2014–. Article published October 26, 2016. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/pan-german_league.