Pan-Arab colors

The pan-Arab colors are black, white, green and red. Individually, each of the four pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain aspect of the Arab people and their history.^[1]

Flag of the Arab Revolt, associated with pan-Arabism.

History

Arab Liberation Flag, or Revolutionary flag
(A modern revolutionary flag that spread to the Arab world inspired by the 1952 Egyptian Revolution)^[2]

The black represents the Black Standard used by the Rashidun and Abbasid Caliphates, while white was the dynastic color of the Umayyad Caliphate.^[3] Green is a color associated with the primary religion of Islam – and therefore also a color representative of the caliphates.^[4][5] Green is also identified as the color of the Fatimid Caliphate by some modern sources,^[3][6] despite their dynastic color having been white.^[7][8][9] Finally, red was the Hashemite dynastic color. The four colors also derived their potency from a verse by 14th century Arab poet Safi al-Din al-Hilli: "White are our acts, black our battles, green our fields, and red our swords."^[10]

Pan-Arab colors, used individually in the past, were first combined in 1916 in the flag of the Arab Revolt or Flag of Hejaz.^[11] Many current flags are based on Arab Revolt colors, such as the flags of Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, and the United Arab Emirates.^[12]

In the 1950s, a subset of the Pan-Arab colors, the Arab Liberation colors, came to prominence. These consist of a tricolor of red, white and black bands, with green given less prominence or not included. The Arab Liberation tricolor or the Arab Liberation Flag was mainly inspired by the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 and Egypt's official flag under president Mohamed Naguib,^[13] which became the basis of the current flags of Egypt, Iraq, Sudan,and Yemen (and formerly in the flags of Syria, the states of North Yemen and South Yemen), and in the short-lived Arab unions of the United Arab Republic and the Federation of Arab Republics.^[12]

Flags with Pan-Arab colors

Current National flags

• 
  Egypt
• 
  Iraq
• 
  Jordan
• 
  Kuwait
• 
  Palestine
• 
  Sudan
• 
  Syria
• 
  United Arab Emirates^[14]
• 
  Yemen
• 
  Western Sahara (disputed territory)

Flags of first-level administrative divisions

• 
  Faiyum Governorate, Egypt
• 
  Azal Region, Yemen

Former national flags with the Pan-Arab colors

• 
  Hejaz (1917–20),^[15] OET Administration (1918–20),^[16] Palestine (All-Palestine Government, 1948–59)^[17]
• 
  Syria (8 March 1920 – 24 July 1920)^[16]
• 
  Hejaz (1920–26) and Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd (1926–1932),^[15] Transjordan (1921–28)^[18]
• 
  Mandatory Iraq and the Kingdom of Iraq (1921–59)^[19]
• 
  Transjordan (1928–39)^[18]
• 
  Syria (1932–58 and 1961–63),^[16] used currently (2011 onwards) by the Syrian Interim Government and the Free Syrian Army
• 
  Egypt (1952–1958, flown alongside the national flag)
• 
  Arab Federation of Jordan and Iraq (14 February 1958 – 2 August 1958)^[20]
• 
  United Arab Republic (1958–61), Egypt (1961–72), Syria (1980–2024)
• 
  Iraq (1959–63)
• 
  North Yemen (1962–90)
• 
  Iraq (1963–91)^[21]
• 
  Syria (1963–72)
• 
  Palestine (1964–2006)^[17]
• 
  South Yemen (1967–90), used currently (2007 onwards) by the Southern Movement
• 
  Libya (1969–72)
• 
  Federation of Arab Republics
  (Egypt (1972–84), Syria (1972–80),^[16] and Libya (1972–77))
• 
  Lower Yafa
  (Yemen (1800–1967))
• 
  Arab Islamic Republic (proposed 1974, never implemented)
• 
  Iraq (1991–2004)^[21]
• 
  Iraq (2004–2008)^[21]

Flags of Arab political and paramilitary movements using Pan-Arab colors

• 
  Flag of Ottoman era Istanbul-based autonomist "Arab Literature Club" (1909–15), a precursor Arab flag^[22]
• 
  Flag of Ottoman era autonomist "Young Arab Society" (1911–16), a precursor Arab flag^[23]
• 
  Flag of the Arab movement used during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt
• 
  Flag of the Ba'ath Party (1947–present), also used by the National Democratic Front for the Liberation of Oman and the Arabian Gulf (active 1969–71)
• 
  Flag of the National Liberation Front of Yemen (1963–78), the Dhofar Liberation Front (1965–68), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arabian Gulf (1968–74)
• 
  Flag of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman (1974–92)
• 
  Flag used by Arab separatists and autonomists in Khuzestan, Iran^[24]
• 
  Flag used by the separatist organizations the National Council of Ahwaz and the National Liberation Movement of Ahwaz in Khuzestan, Iran^[24][25]
• 
  Flag of the Arab Movement of Azawad (2012–present)
• 
  Flag of the Syrian Salvation Government

• 
  Red dynastic color, used by the Hashemites (The Prophet of Islam Muhammad)
• 
  White dynastic color, used by Umayyads (661–750) and the Fatimids (909–1171)^[26] and the Rashidun Caliphate
• 
  Black Standard used by the Abbasids (750–1258)^[27] and the Rashidun Caliphate
• 
  Green, associated with the Rashidun Caliphate^[4][5]

See also

• Black Standard
• Islamic flags
• Green in Islam
• List of Arab flags
• Pan-African colors
• Pan-Arabism
• Pan-Slavic colors
• Pan-Iranian colors
• Tricolor

References

1. Abū Khaldūn Sati' al-Husri, The days of Maysalūn: A Page from the Modern History of the Arabs, Sidney Glauser Trans. (Washington D.C.: Middle East Institute, 1966), 46.
2. Pan-Arab Colors, crwflags.com
3. Edmund Midura (March–April 1978). "Flags of the Arab World". Saudi Aramco World: 4–9.
4. Teitelbaum, Joshua (2001). The rise and fall of the Hashimite kingdom of Arabia. New York: New York University Press. p. 205. ISBN 1-85065-460-3. OCLC 45247314.
5. Marshall, Tim (2017). A flag worth dying for : the power and politics of national symbols. New York, NY: Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc. pp. 110–111. ISBN 978-1-5011-6833-8. OCLC 962006347.
6. Znamierowski, Alfred (2013). The World Encyclopedia of Flags: The Definitive Guide to International Flags, Banners, Standards and Ensigns, with Over 1400 Illustration. Lorenz Books. p. 122. ISBN 978-0-7548-2629-3.
7. Hathaway, Jane (2003). A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-7914-5883-9. The Ismaili Shi'ite counter-caliphate founded by the Fatimids took white as its dynastic color, creating a visual contrast to the Abbasid enemy.
8. Blair, Sheila S.; Bloom, Jonathan M. (1999). "Art and Architecture: Themes and Variations". In Esposito, John L. (ed.). The Oxford History of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 215–267. ISBN 0-19-510799-3. ...white was also the color associated with the Fatimid caliphs, the opponents of the Abbasids.
9. Sanders, Paula A. (1994). Ritual, Politics, and the City in Fatimid Cairo. SUNY series in Medieval Middle East History. SUNY Press. p. 44. ISBN 0-7914-1781-6. ...wore white (the Fatimid color) while delivering the sermon (khuṭba) in the name of the Fatimid caliph.
10. Muhsin Al-Musawi, Reading Iraq: Culture and Power in Conflict (I. B. Tauris 2006), p. 63
11. I. Friedman, British Pan-Arab Policy, 1915–1922, Transaction Publ., 2011, p. 135
12. Znamierowski, Alfred (2003). Illustrated Book of Flags. Southwater. p. 123. ISBN 1-84215-881-3. Retrieved November 22, 2014. The designs of these flags were later modified, but the four pan-Arab colors were retained and were adopted by Transjordan (1921), Palestine (1922), Kuwait (1961), the United Arab Emirates (1971), Western Sahara (1976) and Somaliland (1996).
13. M. Naguib, Egypt's Destiny, 1955
14. Also used as the flag of Fujairah since 1975
15. Kingdom of Hejaz 1915–1925, Crwflags.com
16. Historical Flags Overview (Syria), Crwflags.com
17. Historical Flags (Palestine), Crwflags.com
18. Historical Flags (Jordan), Crwflags.com
19. Kingdom of Iraq (1924–1958), Crwflags.com
20. Arab Federation of Jordan and Iraq, Crwflags.com
21. Evolution of the Iraqi Flag, 1963–2008, Crwflags.com
22. Mahdi Abdul-Hadi, Al-Muntadha al-Adhabi Archived 2014-05-05 at the Wayback Machine, passia.org
23. Mahdi Abdul-Hadi, Jam'yiat al-'Arabiya al-Fatat Archived 2014-05-05 at the Wayback Machine, passia.org
24. Al-Ahwaz (Khuzestan) Political Organizations (Iran) on crwflags.com
25. S. T. Al-Seyed Naama, Brief History of Ahwaz Archived 2014-07-15 at the Wayback Machine, on al-ahwaz.com
26. The contrast of white vs. black as the Fatimid/Umayyad vs. Abbasid dynastic color over time developed in white as the color of Shia Islam and black as the color of Sunni Islam: "The proselytes of the ʿAbbasid revolution took full advantage of the eschatological expectations raised by black banners in their campaign to undermine the Umayyad dynasty from within. Even after the ʿAbbasids had triumphed over the Umayyads in 750, they continued to deploy black as their dynastic color; not only the banners but the headdresses and garments of the ʿAbbasid caliphs were black [...] The ubiquitous black created a striking contrast with the banners and dynastic color of the Umayyads, which had been white [...] The Ismaili Shiʿite counter-caliphate founded by the Fatimids took white as its dynastic color, creating a visual contrast to the ʿAbbasid enemy [...] white became the Shiʿite color, in deliberate opposition to the black of the ʿAbbasid 'establishment'." Jane Hathaway, A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen, 2012, p. 97f.
27. The Abbasid Revolution against the Umayyad Caliphate adopted black for its rāyaʾ for which their partisans were called the musawwids. Tabari (1995), Jane McAuliffe (ed.), Abbāsid Authority Affirmed, vol. 28, SUNY, p. 124

External links

• Pan-Arab colors
• Evolution of the Arab Flag, by Mahdi Abdul-Hadi (in Arabic)