Blackberry coalition in the East? This is what the strange coalition names mean

What is sometimes black, sometimes red and sometimes purple? A blackberry – and possibly soon a coalition in Thuringia. But there are even more curious alliance titles.

Red, green, pink, purple, black, blue, green: When German parties get together to negotiate coalitions, things often get colorful. t-online explains what the terms mean.

Often, but not always, coalitions are named after the national flags whose colors the parties represent. After the elections in Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia in autumn 2024, there is now an option on the table that cannot be found in any flag in the world: a coalition of the CDU (black), SPD (red) and BSW (purple).

In the absence of a state flag, party researcher Karl-Rudolf Korte turned to nature: a blackberry has the colors black, red or purple depending on its ripeness – and so Korte named a possible coalition of the CDU, SPD and BSW after the berry.

Just like the blackberry, the Kiwi Coalition uses nature: its name alludes to the two colors that can be found inside a kiwi: green and black. It describes a coalition of the Greens and the CDU/CSU.

The lime or citrus coalition is a collaboration between the Greens (green) and the FDP (yellow). Such cooperation has not yet taken place in Germany at either the federal or state level.

It combines the colors red, green and purple. However, the corresponding parties SPD, Greens and BSW have not yet formed a coalition at either the state or federal level.

The coalition that currently governs Bavaria under Markus Söder (CSU) is named after a soft drink: The CSU (black) and the Free Voters (orange) work together in the Spezi coalition. In a Spezi, Cola and (usually orange) lemonade are mixed. Markus Söder often refers to the Bavarian Spezi coalition as the Bavarian coalition.

The term “grand coalition” comes from a time when the CDU and SPD were still undisputedly the two “big” parties (or people’s parties) in Germany. A coalition of these two parties was called a “grand coalition”. Most recently, such a government governed the federal government under Angela Merkel (CDU) until 2021.

This coalition consists of the colors of the traffic light: red (SPD), yellow (FDP) and green (The Greens). A traffic light coalition has been governing the federal government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) since 2021.

The Jamaica coalition only differs from the traffic light in one color: red (SPD) becomes black (CDU/CSU). Together with the yellow of the FDP and the green of the Greens, these become the colors of the Jamaican national flag.

After the 2017 federal election, FDP leader Christian Lindner broke off negotiations for a possible Jamaica coalition with the declaration that he would rather not govern than govern incorrectly. The “Black Traffic Light” ruled in Saarland from 2009 to 2012, and in Schleswig-Holstein from 2017 to 2022.

In a Germany coalition, the colors of the German national flag come together in a slightly modified form: black (CDU/CSU), red (SPD) and gold (in this case the yellow of the FDP). Such an association has governed Saxony-Anhalt since 2021 under Rainer Haseloff (CDU).

Black, red and green are not only the colors of the CDU/CSU, SPD and Greens, but also the national flags of two countries: Kenya and Afghanistan. Black-red-green coalitions have been working together in Saxony and Brandenburg since 2019, although they are expected to only be in power for a few more weeks.

The colors of the national flag of Zimbabwe are black, red, yellow and green. However, the CDU/CSU, SPD, FDP and Greens have not yet come together in this formation in the federal and state governments.