10 Strangest World War II Unsolved Mysteries

6. What Happened To The "Blutfahne" Flag

The case of the "Blutfahne" is a curious one - seeing as the actual existence of the legendary and sacred Nazi flag has been disputed, never mind what became of it. Supposedly the Swastika flag, designed by Hitler himself, became such a key Nazi symbol when a white flag bearing the symbol in the centre was carried and then covered in blood during Hitler's attempted Beer Hall Putsch in Munich in November 1923.

Carried by the SA, they were halted by Munich police, and placed the flag on the floor - before some Nazi blood was shed on it during the resultant armed conflict. In the most-often used version of the events of the Blutfahne flag, supposedly the wounded flag-bearer Heinrich Trambauer gathered up the blood-soaked relic, ran off to a friend's house and then hid it in his jacket. Then Hitler was allegedly given the flag - now attached to a new staff with a decorative finial and silver sleeve commemorating the 16 Nazis that died during the Beer Hall Putsch - after being released from Landsberg prison.

The flag bore no colour of dried human blood and was not the same shape as the one carried in November 1923, yet the legend of the Blutfahne was still born. Hitler would display the Blutfahne at his annual Nuremberg rallies - supposedly consecrating other Swastikas by holding the sacred flag in his other hand - and at other times it would be kept at the Brown House in Munich, the Nazi Party's HQ. Last seen in public at Heinrich Himmler's Volkssturm induction ceremony in October 1944, what became of the Blutfahne is unknown. The Allies originally believed they had destroyed it during the continuous bombing of Munich, but later they were unconvinced, while many people have since claimed to own the supposedly sacred Nazi flag.

Is the Blutfahne still around somewhere today?