A colour-based name summarises a political alliance.
A coalition is cooperation between different parties to form a government. The parties remain separate organisations rather than becoming one new party. A shared programme may set out the measures they intend to pursue together.
For the traffic-light label, use the sequence of colours. Connect red with the SPD, yellow with the FDP and green with Alliance 90/The Greens. This lets you recognise the combination even when the options appear in a different order.
The other three answers
Check every partner. One matching party name is not enough.
of the CDU and CSU parliamentary groups in the Bundestag
CDU and CSU form a joint parliamentary group in the Bundestag. That is not the traffic-light coalition; the named combination lacks SPD, FDP and Greens.
of CSU, The Left and Alliance 90/The Greens in a government
The Greens appear here, but CSU and The Left replace the other two traffic-light partners. The combination is therefore wrong.
of the CDU and SPD parliamentary groups in the Bundestag
CDU and SPD are a different combination. The traffic-light label specifically requires FDP and Greens alongside the SPD, rather than the CDU.
A coalition label does not identify today’s government by itself.
The federal traffic-light coalition existed from 2021 until its breakup in November 2024. The exam answer still names that combination of parties. A historical explanation must not present it as the current federal government merely because the label is familiar.
Party colours are political conventions, not constitutional rules. Whether an alliance has a workable majority and agrees on a government is a separate issue. Three matching colours alone do not form a government.
Coalitions and colours · German Bundestag ↗Red – yellow – green: SPD – FDP – Greens.
Translate all three colours into parties rather than recognising only the word “coalition”.
Three words for this question
- die Koalitioncoalition
- An alliance of parties for governing together.
- der Koalitionspartnercoalition partner
- A party participating in that governing alliance.
- die Parteifarbeparty colour
- A colour conventionally associated with a party in political language.