Flag of the Arab Revolt - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Flag of the Arab Revolt was a flag

Flag

A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...

used by Arab nationalists during the Arab Revolt

Arab Revolt

The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...

against the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

History

The flag was designed by the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

diplomat Sir Mark Sykes, in an effort to create a feeling of "Arab-ness" in order to fuel the revolt. Although the Arab Revolt was only very limited in scope and concerted by the British rather than by Arabs themselves, the flag influenced the national flags of a number of emerging Arab states

Arab world

The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...

after World War I. Flags inspired by that of the Arab revolt include those of Egypt

Flag of Egypt

The flag of Egypt is a tricolour consisting of the three equal horizontal red, white, and black bands of the Arab Liberation flag dating back to the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. The flag bears Egypt's national emblem, the Eagle of Saladin centered in the white band...

, Jordan

Flag of Jordan

The flag of Jordan, officially adopted on 16 April 1928, is based on the flag of the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The flag consists of horizontal black, white, and green bands that are connected by a red chevron. The colors stand are the Pan-Arab Colors, representing...

, Iraq

Flag of Iraq

The flag of Iraq consists of the three equal horizontal red, white, and black bands of the Arab Liberation Flag. The flag has been in use since 1963, with several changes to the green symbols in the central white band, the most recent version bearing the Takbir rendered in green. Following the U.S...

, Kuwait

Flag of Kuwait

The flag of Kuwait was adopted on September 7, 1961, and officially hoisted November 24, 1961.Before 1961, the flag of Kuwait, like those of other Gulf states, was red and white with the word "الكويت" in the middle. The present flag is in the Pan-Arab colours, but each colour is also significant...

, Sudan

Flag of Sudan

The flag of Sudan was adopted on May 20, 1970, and consists of a horizontal red-white-black tricolor, with a green triangle at the hoist. The flag is based on the Arab Liberation Flag shared by Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, that uses a subset of the Pan-Arab colors in which green is less...

, Syria

Flag of Syria

The flag of Syria was re-adopted in 1980. The flag was formerly the flag of the United Arab Republic.-History:The first modern flag of Syria was adopted in 1920, and was similar to the current flag of Jordan with the green and white colours reversed...

, the United Arab Emirates

Flag of the United Arab Emirates

The flag of the United Arab Emirates was adopted on December 2, 1971.It contains the Pan-Arab colors red, green, white and black, which symbolize Arabian unity...

, Yemen

Flag of Yemen

The flag of Yemen was adopted on May 22, 1990, the day that North Yemen and South Yemen were unified. The flag is essentially the Arab Liberation Flag of 1952, introduced after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 in which Arab nationalism was a dominant theme...

, the Palestinian national movement

Palestinian flag

The Palestinian flag is based on the Flag of the Arab Revolt, and is used to represent the Palestinian people , and the Palestinian Authority.-Description:...

(also used by the PLO and by the Palestinian Authority), Somaliland

Flag of Somaliland

The current flag of Somaliland was introduced on October 14, 1996, when it was approved by the National Conference. Somaliland is a de facto independent republic which is recognized as a part of Somalia...

, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Libya

Flag of Libya

The Libyan Independence Flag or Flag of Libya was the original flag of the Kingdom of Libya introduced in 1951 following the creation of the Libyan state in the post World War II period...

The horizontal colors stand for the Abbasid

Abbasid

The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....

, Umayyad

Umayyad

The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four major Arab caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...

and Fatimid

Fatimid

The Fatimid Islamic Caliphate or al-Fāṭimiyyūn was a Berber Shia Muslim caliphate first centered in Tunisia and later in Egypt that ruled over varying areas of the Maghreb, Sudan, Sicily, the Levant, and Hijaz from 5 January 909 to 1171.The caliphate was ruled by the Fatimids, who established the...

Caliphates. The red triangle refers to the Hashemite

Hashemite

Hashemite is the Latinate version of the , transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe...

dynasty.

The Hashemites were allies of the British in the conflict against the Ottoman Empire. After the war ended, the Hashemites achieved or were granted rule in the Hejaz

Hejaz

al-Hejaz, also Hijaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined primarily by its western border on the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan. Its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina...

region of Arabia, Jordan

Jordan

Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

, formally known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, briefly in Greater Syria

Greater Syria

Greater Syria , also known simply as Syria, is a term that denotes a region in the Near East bordering the Eastern Mediterranean Sea or the Levant....

, and Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

.

Greater Syria was dissolved after only a few months existence, in 1920. The Hashemites were overthrown in the Hejaz in 1925 by the House of Saud

House of Saud

The House of Saud , also called the Al Saud, is the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia and one of the wealthiest and most powerful dynasties in the world. The family holds thousands of members...

, and in Iraq in 1958 by a coup d'etat

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

, but retained power in Jordan

Jordan

.

A 98.5 by 197 foot version of the flag flies from the Aqaba Flagpole

Aqaba Flagpole

The Aqaba Flagpole in Aqaba, Jordan is the second tallest free standing flagpole in the world at a height of high. It carries the flag of the Arab Revolt and can be seen from Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.-Technical data:Pole height: 130 meters...

, currently the second tallest freestanding flagpole in the world, located in Aqaba

Aqaba

Aqaba is a coastal city in the far south of Jordan, the capital of Aqaba Governorate at the head of the Gulf of Aqaba. Aqaba is strategically important to Jordan as it is the country's only seaport. Aqaba is best known today as a diving and beach resort, but industrial activity remains important...

, Jordan

Jordan

History

See also