The state of Prussia developed from the State of the Teutonic Order. The original flag of the Teutonic Knights had been a black cross on a white flag. Emperor Frederick II in 1229 granted them the right to use the black Eagle of the Holy Roman Empire. This "Prussian Eagle" remained the coats of arms of the successive Prussian states until 1947.

Late Medieval and Early Modern Prussia

Kingdom of Prussia

The Hohenzollern family uses the motto Nihil Sine Deo. The family coat of arms, first adopted in 1192, began as a simple shield quarterly sable and argent. A century later, in 1317, Frederick IV, Burgrave of Nuremberg, added the head and shoulders of a hound as a crest. Later quartering reflected heiresses’ marriages into the family.

Free State of Prussia

With the fall of the House of Hohenzollern in 1918, the Kingdom of Prussia was succeeded by the Free State of Prussia within the Weimar Republic. The new Prussian arms depicted a single black eagle, displayed in a more natural than heraldic style. While part of Nazi Germany, the free state's arms depicted a single black eagle, more stylized than before but not in a heraldic manner, with a swastika and the phrase Gott mit uns beginning in 1933. The Reichsstatthaltergesetz of 1935 removed all effective power from the Prussian government.

Dissolution of Prussia

In 1947, following World War II, the state of Prussia was dissolved by the Allies, thus rendering its arms defunct. A black eagle on white is present in the arms of Saxony-Anhalt, to stand for what was Prussian Saxony. The Prussian eagle is also featured in the arms of the Salzlandkreis district of Saxony-Anhalt, as well as the former district of Aschersleben-Staßfurt. A black eagle on red is present in the arms of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship in Poland, which corresponds to what was southern East Prussia.