usually
black is used for the CDU
while pink is used for Linke
178.210.114.106 (talk) 16:19, 20 November 2012 (UTC)
That's true, the colours should be changed. Also, Hamburg only has three (not four) seats. Spelling: Schleswig-Holstein (no i after e), Niedersachsen (one word, no dash), Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (dash), Baden-Württemberg (e, not u) --LiterallySimon (talk) 12:46, 21 November 2012 (UTC)
Indeed...Hamburg has only three seats and...in fact...Nordrhein has six. I also have to change one of the boxes for Thuringen which isn't coloured in properly and add the third party for Saarland which can be seen in the German image represented as a dot
.
As for the colours, there are different colours done by different designers (just check a random group of images and you will see). I used the official colours listed on the parties websites, so as they don't clash with each other and/or that the parties are distinct enough. I cannot have two parties as black and then light black. Etc... They are fine the way they are
Thanks for the spelling corrections...I'll make all the changes asap.
You are right about NRW, I missed that. It's by far the largest state. The colours are wrong even though the CDU introduced orange and blue as a style choice a few years ago and even though the party name usually is written in red (these are choices that may change over the years). For decades all the German media have used black for the conservative parties, both in images and in language ("schwarz-gelbe Koalition"). It goes back to the black robes of the catholic clergy. The official colour of the Left party is (as for almost every other socialist party) red, notice the red triangle in their party logo and the style of their wbsites and pamphlets. As that colour is also the one used by the Social Democrats, a darker red or pink is used. Orange is the official colour of the now popular Pirate party. Ask any German, not a single one will connect orange to CDU or CSU.
There used to be a three-party coalition in Saarland (CDU, FDP, Greens) but that changed in spring after early elections. Now the governing CDU is in coalition with SPD. The SSW (Südschleswigscher Wählerverband, minority party for Frisians and German Danes) only exists in Schleswig-Holstein! It's in a coalition with the Social Democrats and the Greens there. The official colour is a dark blue.
The best image so far showing coalitions and party colours:
--LiterallySimon (talk) 20:37, 22 November 2012 (UTC)