Flag of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Use	National flag and state ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	March 15, 1973
Design	Green with the shahada inscription and a sword in white.

The flag of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: علم المملكة العربية السعودية‎) is the flag used by the government of Saudi Arabia since March 15, 1973. It is a green flag featuring in white an Arabic inscription and a sword. The script on the flag is written in the Thuluth script. It is the shahada or Islamic declaration of faith:

لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله

lā ’ilāha ’illa-llāh muḥammadun rasūlu-llāh

"There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah"

The sword symbolizes justice.

Green flags bearing this or other Arabic scripts are frequently seen in Islam and should not be confused with the Saudi national flag. These other flags normally do not bear the sword symbol.

The flag is manufactured with identical obverse and reverse sides, to ensure the shahada reads correctly, from right to left, from either side. The sword points to the left on both sides, in the direction of the script. The flag is sinister hoisted, meaning that it is hoisted to the left of the flagpole, as viewed from the obverse (front) side. (Flagpole is to the right of the flag).

The green used in the flag is Pantone 330 c / CMYK (%) C 100 - M 0 - Y 50 - K 50

Use

The flag of Saudi Arabia is never flown at half-staff.

Because the shahada is considered holy, the flag is not normally used on T-shirts or other items. Saudi Arabia protested against its inclusion on a planned football to be issued by FIFA, bearing all the flags of the participants of the 2002 Football World Cup. Saudi officials said that kicking the creed with the foot was completely unacceptable. Similarly, an attempt by the U.S. military to win favour with children of the Prost region of Afghanistan by distributing footballs adorned with flags, including that of Saudi Arabia, ended in demonstrations.

The flag is never lowered to half-mast as a sign of mourning because lowering it would be considered blasphemous.

The normal flag cannot be hoisted vertically according to Saudi legislation. Special vertical flags are manufactured where both the inscription (the creed) and the emblem (the sword) are rotated, although this is rare as most Arab countries lack the tradition of hoisting flags vertically.

History

The shahada has been connected with the Salafi movement since the 18th century. This movement was associated with the Al Saud family's rise to power, and when Abdulaziz Abdulrahman Al-Saud became King of the Nejd in 1902, he added a sword to this flag. The design of the flag was not standardized prior to March 15, 1973, and variants with two swords and/or a white vertical stripe at the hoist were frequently used. By 1938, the flag had basically assumed its present form.

Variant of the flag in use from 1932 to 1934, with white stripe on the hoist.

Variant of the flag in use from 1934 to 1938, with a thinner white stripe.

Variant of the flag in use from 1938 to 1973, with no stripe.

Past flags

The precursor states to Saudi Arabia were Nejd and Hejaz. The state flag of Nejd followed today's Saudi flag pattern very closely. The state of Hijaz followed the patterns seen in countries like Palestine and Sudan. From 1744 a crescent was present.^{[citation needed]} From 1902 until 1921 a different Arabic inscription was used. One of the primary opponents to the Saudis was the Al Rashid family in the north of the peninsula, until their defeat in 1921.

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  Flag of the Emirate of Diriyah from 1744 to 1818 and the Emirate of Nejd from 1818 to 1891.

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  Flag of the Emirate of Ha'il, 1835 to 1920

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  Flag of the Emirate of Ha'il, 1920 to 1921

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  Flag of the Emirate of Riyadh from 1902 to 1921.

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  Flag of Nejd from 1921 to 1926, closely resembling the modern Saudi flag.

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  Flag of Nejd from 1926 to 1932, with a white border and no sword.

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  Provisional Flag of Hejaz, 1916 to 1917

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  Flag of Hejaz from 1917 to 1920, based on the Flag of the Arab Revolt.

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  Flag of Hejaz from 1920 to 1926

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  Flag of Hejaz from 1926 to 1932

Other flags

The civil ensign, for use by merchant vessels at sea, is a green flag with the state flag in the canton with a white border. The royal standard is the state flag with the palm tree and swords in the canton.

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  Civil ensign. (Ratio: 2:3)

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  Naval Ensign of Saudi Arabia. (Ratio: 12:25)

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  Naval jack (Ratio: 2:3).

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  Air force ensign (Ratio: 2:3)

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  Royal Standard (Ratio: 2:3)

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  Naval Bases Flag of the Royal Saudi Navy (Ratio: 2:3)

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  Flag of the Royal Saudi Air Defense, used in bases and military ceremonies (Ratio: 2:3)

External links

• Saudi Arabia at Flags of the World
• World Flags Information, Saudi Arabian page
• Saudi Arabian flag and associated information