Berchtold, then head of the SS. The flag was thereafter treated as a sacred object by the Nazi Party and carried by SS-Sturmbannführer Jakob Grimminger at various Nazi Party ceremonies. One of the most visible uses of the flag was when Hitler, at the Party's annual Nuremberg rallies, touched other Nazi banners with the Blutfahne, thereby "sanctifying" them. This was done in a special ceremony called the "flag consecration" (Fahnenweihe). When not in use, the Blutfahne was kept at the headquarters of the Nazi Party in Munich (the Brown House) with an SS guard of honour. The flag had a small tear in it, believed to have been caused during the Putsch, that went unrepaired for a number of years. Disappearance The Blutfahne was last seen in public at the Volkssturm induction ceremony on 18 October 1944 (not, as frequently reported, at Gauleiter Adolf Wagner's funeral six months previously). This ceremony was conducted by Heinrich Himmler and attended by Wilhelm Keitel, Heinz Guderian, Hans Lammers, Martin Bormann, Karl Fiehler, Wilhelm Schepmann and Erwin Kraus. After this last public display, the Blutfahne vanished. Its current whereabouts are unknown, but it is generally assumed to have been destroyed amidst the Allied bombing of Munich in 1945. Historian Mark Felton has stated he believes the Blutfahne was most likely taken as a souvenir by U.S. forces, and thus may still exist somewhere in the United States today. See also Nazism Glossary of Nazi Germany Personal standard of Adolf Hitler List of German flags References Further reading Orth, R: „Von einem verantwortungslosen Kameraden zum geistigen Krüppel geschlagen.“ Der Fall des Hitler-Putschisten Heinrich Trambauer. in: Historische Mitteilungen der Ranke-Gesellschaft 25 (2012), p. 208–236. External links Blutfahne at Flags of the World. 1923 establishments in Germany Special events flags Lost objects Beer Hall Putsch Flags of Nazi Germany Swastika