Why are so many Arab flags red, green, black and white?

Ever wonder why so many Arab countries use red, black, green and white in their flags?

Many striking in the area banner It has changed countless times over the past century as governments have changed, wars have erupted, and political allegiances have changed.

others remain the same, e.g. UAE flag More than 50 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Professor Elie Podeh, lecturer in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said flags often showed regional similarities, such as the Scandinavian cross and the African multicolored flag.

But why do the same four colors appear so frequently on the flags of the Arab world?

Here’s how some of the signs in the area were chosen.

Why are pan-Arabic colors so widely used?

One oft-cited reason is that the four pan-Arabic colors each represent a different period of Arab history, with the Rashidon and Abbasid caliphs using black, the Umayyads using white, the Fatimids using green, and Rashidun’s successor Prophet Muhammad – and Islam in general – and the Hashemite red.

Another theory comes from a 14th-century verse by Iraqi poet Safi Al-Din Healy: “White is our deeds, black is our battle, green is our field, red is our sword.”

It is believed that these colours were first combined in 1916 on the flag of the Arab rebellion against the Ottoman Empire, designed by British diplomat Sir Mark Sykes.

“There are certain commonalities between many Arab countries,” Professor Pod told National“It shows a certain symbolism that there is a connection, a similarity, a commonality between people in the region now. It’s not just Arabic.

“It’s also very relevant to the UAE because the flag is traditional arabic colors. When we talk about traditional Arabic colors, it is not only pan-Arabic but also Islamic. It dates back to the Prophet Muhammad, green and red belonged to the Ottoman Empire. It’s very much about history and identity.

“Furthermore, I think, at least in the past, it’s very important that the flag has changed quite often [of the region].

“Now, if you look at Iraq and Syria, Lebanon is an exception, Jordan is an exception, the UAE has not changed. Even Egypt, the largest country, has always had a very strong sense of identity, [but] They changed the flag.

“So it says that symbolism is [open] Land changes, sometimes depending on the owner’s narrative. Whenever the government changes or something changes, they may also change the symbolism. This is unique to the entire Arab world. “

Of the 22 member states of the Arab League, 10 use green, white, black and red. Of the other 12 countries, most use one of four colors, usually red or green, while nine use Islamic symbols such as stars, crescents or swords on their flags.

These colours “embody certain virtues, or things that are seen as virtues, whether it’s the blood of colonial struggles, the green of the land, black can also be a symbol of resistance”, says Dr Anthony Gorman, senior lecturer in Islam and at the University of Edinburgh, UK Center for Middle East Studies told Nationwide.

“I don’t really have a favorite, but what I find interesting is the way the flag has changed over time with different regimes or political orientations. Over time, this has changed in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. It is so.

“The flag is often about national identity. The flag provides the utility of conveying ideology.”

United Arab Emirates

The distinctive red, green, white and black of the UAE flag are shared by many other Arab countries.As we all know, the origin of the UAE flag lies in the story of a 19-year-old who in 1971 won the game Design the flag of NSW.

“Obviously we already have colour, don’t we? Emphasize Arabness. Unlike other countries in the Gulf, Arabs go by the name of the UAE,” said Dr Gorman, an Australian who has worked at a Scottish university for 15 years.

“If you were talking about the flag and trying to explain it, you would say the red on the UAE flag [the red on the individual flags of each emirate], isn’t it? Instead of necessarily saying it’s the red of the pan-Arab flag, or you can say both.

Kuwait

“The same is true for Kuwait, of course, as far as the flag is concerned, the emphasis on Arab brotherhood, we are one of you. You might think it’s a little bit different. But we want to emphasise one thing in common.”

Kuwait’s flag – similar to its neighbors in the Arabian Gulf, with a different arrangement of pan-Arab colors – a black trapezoid standing vertically next to green, white and red stripes. It has been hung over the years since 1961 in a range of red designs, with varieties similar to those in Turkey and Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia

The modern flag of Saudi Arabia has been in use since 1973. The green background features a white inscription or shahada above the sword. shahada wrote: “There is no God but God. Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”.

“certainly, [modern] Saudi Arabia is a recently formed country,” Dr Gorman said. “If you look at the two main symbols, the sword and Qingming, the sword can be literally understood as a radical struggle, it may also be seen as just one [symbol of] struggle, struggle for faith. But it’s definitely a military symbol. “

Bahrain and Qatar

These Gulf neighbors feature strikingly similar designs – both have a white band with a zigzag line on the left, while Bahrain’s right is bright red and Qatar’s is maroon, while also having fewer dots and a different Aspect ratio.

Not surprisingly, the flags share a shared history, with both countries historically using full red flags until they were modified to white vertical stripes to appease Britain.

“I read that the particular tint of the Qatari flag is the result of intense sunlight hitting the brighter reds of the past,” Dr Gorman said. “It’s interesting that they didn’t refer to the pan-Arabic colors at all, they chose to refer to that local color. Red flag tradition.

“These are ruling families who have been in power in the region for quite some time, 200 years or more.

“Policymakers may have been thinking that in the late 1960s and early 1970s, we needed to make it clear who we were, we didn’t just want to be a complement to the wider Arab state. They were making pretty strong statements about who they were. .”

Yemen

Yemen’s simple tricolor flag, with red, white and black stripes, was adopted in 1990 when North and South Yemen were unified. It looks like the flag of Egypt without the golden eagle. Officially, black represents the dark days of the past, white represents the bright future, and red represents the blood of the struggle for independence and unity.

“It’s an interesting question as to why Yemen didn’t adopt greens,” Dr. Gorman said.

Oman

The flag of Oman stands out for its design and uniqueness in the region. It was introduced in 1970 by the late Sultan Qaboos, who also changed the country’s name to the Sultanate of Oman. White represents peace and prosperity, red represents fighting against foreign invaders, and green represents fertile land. The national emblem – two crossed swords, a dagger and a belt – is in the upper left corner.

Egypt

“Egypt was part of the Ottoman Empire until 1914,” Dr. Gorman said. “So before that, and even after that, the main symbols – from red in the 19th and early 20th centuries to green in the interwar period – were the crescent moon and the star, which referred to the Ottoman Empire and the connect.

“But with the fall of the monarchy in 1952, the references to the Ottoman Empire and the royalists were removed and replaced by the red and black eagle of Saladin, the great Muslim warrior who was in power not only in Egypt but also in Egypt. That eagle is closer to Egypt’s territorial reference, while the classic pan-Arab flag doesn’t really have a local reference.

“Then, when Egypt merged with Syria to become the United Arab Republic in 1958, the eagle was dropped and two stars were put in, representing the northern province, which is Syria, and the southern province, which is Egypt.

Lebanon

“In Lebanon, cedars are [local] Reference there,” said Dr. Gorman of the Lebanese cedar tree, a symbol of Maronite Christians, described in the Bible as elegant and beautiful, as well as strong and durable.

“Cedar was more or less on the French flag of Lebanon until 1943, when it became two red stripes instead of blue.”

Syria

Dr Gorman said the Syrian flag adopted the same structure as the United Arab Republic after the design was abandoned in the 1970s.

“Syria had a French flag in the corner in the early 1920s – kind of like the Union Jack on the Australian flag – then in the 1920s and 1930s [for] More pan-Arabic configuration.

“Why it goes back to what we could call a UAR flag is an interesting question. But it might say [that] Syria, perhaps more than any other Arab country, has such a strong rhetorical commitment to the Arab cause, especially on the Palestinian side. “

Iraq

“We still have pan-Arab colours,” said Dr Gorman of the Iraqi flag. “But you have Alahu Akbar, the green in the center. If you look back, there are three stars, in line with the Baath’s ideology: unity, freedom, socialism. [In 1991], Saddam Hussein declared himself a descendant of the Prophet’s family, and Allah Akbar raised the flag between the three stars. “The stars were thrown away in 2003 and the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Jordan

According to the flag of the Arab rebellion against the Ottoman Empire during World War I, the only noticeable difference is a longer red triangle with a seven-pointed star. Nothing changed when Jordan gained independence from Transjordan in 1946.

Palestine

The pan-Arabic colours are again on display, this time with a red triangle at the lift plus three equal horizontal stripes of black, white and green. The flag was officially recognized by the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964. After negotiations with the PLO, Israel lifted restrictions on the flying of the flag in 1993, allowing it to represent the Palestinian state and the Palestinian people.

Tunisia

“The Tunisian flag complements the Ottoman crescent and star symbol,” Dr Gorman said. “The power of the Ottoman Empire extends to modern Algeria, not Morocco. So the Moroccan flag has no crescent moon and stars.

“Tunisia did have a particularly close relationship with the Ottoman Empire, for example, more so than Libya or Algeria. The Tunisian Syrian Army was sent to the Crimean War to help the Ottoman Empire.

“Tunisia has a longer trajectory as a country than Libya, which has been several Italian provinces for decades, then Algeria, and of course, until the 1960s it was a French territory. So maybe the Tunisians want to emphasize the same time as the Ottomans. Continuity of tradition to show their identity.”

Updated: November 2, 2022 11:30pm