Answer by Ryan for How do I get the current branch name in Git?

If you really want the last branch/tag checked out in detached HEAD state as well.

git reflog HEAD | grep 'checkout:' | head -1 | rev | cut -d'' -f1 | rev

UpdateThis is nicer if you have and aren't scared of awk.

git reflog HEAD | grep 'checkout:' | head -1 | awk '{print $NF}'