diff --git a/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V39__add_tag_hierarchy.sql b/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V39__add_tag_hierarchy.sql
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..330d10df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/src/main/resources/db/migration/V39__add_tag_hierarchy.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+-- Add self-referencing parent FK for tag hierarchy (adjacency list model).
+-- ON DELETE SET NULL: deleting a parent promotes its children to root level.
+ALTER TABLE tag ADD COLUMN parent_id UUID REFERENCES tag(id) ON DELETE SET NULL;
+ALTER TABLE tag ADD CONSTRAINT chk_tag_no_self_reference CHECK (parent_id != id);
+CREATE INDEX idx_tag_parent_id ON tag(parent_id);
+
+-- Optional color token (e.g. "sage", "teal") for root-level tags.
+-- Validated against the allowed palette in TagService before save.
+ALTER TABLE tag ADD COLUMN color VARCHAR(20);
diff --git a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/repository/MigrationIntegrationTest.java b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/repository/MigrationIntegrationTest.java
index db5b98a3..78ff9861 100644
--- a/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/repository/MigrationIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/backend/src/test/java/org/raddatz/familienarchiv/repository/MigrationIntegrationTest.java
@@ -168,8 +168,63 @@ class MigrationIntegrationTest {
         assertThat(rows).isEqualTo(1);
     }
 
+    // ─── V39: tag hierarchy — parent_id FK + self-reference check + color ──────
+
+    @Test
+    void v39_parentId_allowsNull() {
+        UUID tagId = createTag("TagWithoutParent");
+
+        Integer count = jdbc.queryForObject(
+                "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tag WHERE id = ? AND parent_id IS NULL", Integer.class, tagId);
+        assertThat(count).isEqualTo(1);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void v39_selfReferenceCheck_rejectsSelfAsParent() {
+        UUID tagId = createTag("SelfRef");
+
+        assertThatThrownBy(() ->
+                jdbc.update("UPDATE tag SET parent_id = id WHERE id = ?", tagId)
+        ).isInstanceOf(DataIntegrityViolationException.class);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void v39_parentId_acceptsValidParent() {
+        UUID parent = createTag("Parent");
+        UUID child = createTag("Child");
+
+        int rows = jdbc.update("UPDATE tag SET parent_id = ? WHERE id = ?", parent, child);
+        assertThat(rows).isEqualTo(1);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void v39_color_allowsNull() {
+        UUID tagId = createTag("ColorlessTag");
+
+        Integer count = jdbc.queryForObject(
+                "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM tag WHERE id = ? AND color IS NULL", Integer.class, tagId);
+        assertThat(count).isEqualTo(1);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void v39_color_storesTokenName() {
+        UUID tagId = createTag("ColoredTag");
+
+        int rows = jdbc.update("UPDATE tag SET color = 'sage' WHERE id = ?", tagId);
+        String stored = jdbc.queryForObject("SELECT color FROM tag WHERE id = ?", String.class, tagId);
+
+        assertThat(rows).isEqualTo(1);
+        assertThat(stored).isEqualTo("sage");
+    }
+
     // ─── helpers ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
+    private UUID createTag(String name) {
+        UUID id = UUID.randomUUID();
+        jdbc.update("INSERT INTO tag (id, name) VALUES (?, ?)", id, name);
+        return id;
+    }
+
     private UUID createDocument() {
         Document doc = documentRepository.save(Document.builder()
                 .title("Testdokument")