The national flag of Bahrain

Bahrain

' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...

consists of a white band on the left, separated from a red area on the right by five triangles that serve as a serrated line.

Red is the traditional colour for flags of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

. The white is on the hoist side; the five points represent the five pillars of Islam.

It is very similar to the flag of Qatar

Flag of Qatar

The flag of Qatar is in the ratio of 11:28. It is brown with a broad white serrated band on the hoist side.The meaning of Qatar's flag is:* The white colour reflects the internationally recognised symbol of peace...

, which has more points and has a darker red.

The flag of Bahrain is prominently displayed in the Disney film - Rescuers Down Under flying over the Rescue Aid Society session.

History

The oldest known flags of Bahrain were plain red. In 1820, Bahrain signed a treaty

The General Maritime Treaty with Britain

A treaty signed in 1820 by the Trucial States , Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Kingdom that accepted a British protectorate in order to detour the Ottoman Turks from expanding more throughout the region....

 with the United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....

, and a white stripe was added to the flag to indicate the truce. In 1932, a serrated edge was added to distinguish the flag of Bahrain from those of its neighbours.

The flag originally had twenty-eight white points, but this was reduced to eight in 1972. In 2002 the number was again reduced to five, so that each of the points could stand for one of the Five Pillars of Islam

Five Pillars of Islam

The Pillars of Islam are basic concepts and duties for accepting the religion for the Muslims.The Shi'i and Sunni both agree on the essential details for the performance of these acts, but the Shi'a do not refer to them by the same name .-Pillars of Shia:According to Shia Islam, the...

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