Pan-Arab colors
Encyclopedia
The Pan-Arab colors are black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
, white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
, green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
, and red
Red
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
. They were first combined in the flag of the Arab Revolt
Flag of the Arab Revolt
The Flag of the Arab Revolt was a flag used by Arab nationalists during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire in World War I.-History:The flag was designed by the British diplomat Sir Mark Sykes, in an effort to create a feeling of "Arab-ness" in order to fuel the revolt...
in 1916. They are used currently in the flags of 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...
, 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...
, Palestinian Authority
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:...
, Sahrawi Republic
Flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
The flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is a combination of the Pan-Arab colors and symbols related to Islam. The flag was originally adopted on 27 February 1976 and was slightly modified in June 1991.- Description :...
, 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...
, 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...
and 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...
. A sub-set of the Pan-Arab colors are the Arab Liberation colors, in which green is less significant. These appear on the flags 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...
, 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...
, 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...
, 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...
.
Each of the four Pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain Arab dynasty, or era. The black was the color of the banner of Muhammad
Black Standard
The Black Banner or Black Standard is the historical flag flown by Muhammad in Islamic tradition, an eschatological symbol in Shi'a Islam , and a symbol used in Islamic extremism and Jihadism.-History:...
, and of 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....
Caliphate; white was used by the 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...
Caliphate; green was used by the 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...
Caliphate as a reminder of the Battle of Badr
Battle of Badr
The Battle of Badr , fought Saturday, March 13, 624 AD in the Hejaz region of western Arabia , was a key battle in the early days of Islam and a turning point in Muhammad's struggle with his opponents among the Quraish in Mecca...
to symbolize their support of Ali Bin Abi Talib; red was the flag held by the Khawarij, and then became the symbol of rulers in the Maghreb
Maghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
, and Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
.
Other Arab states, while not using all of the Pan-Arab colors, do use some of them in other combination (the flag of Algeria
Flag of Algeria
The national flag of Algeria consists of two equal vertical bars, green and white, charged in the center with a red star and crescent...
, for example, uses green, white, and red, but not black). However, such use is unrelated to the symbolism of the Pan-Arab colors.
See also
- TricolourTricolourA tricolour is a flag or banner more-or-less equally divided into three bands of differing colours...
- Pan-Slavic colors
- Pan-Iranian colorsPan-Iranian colorsThe Pan-Iranian colors, green, white and red, are colors used on the flags of some countries and autonomous provinces inhabited by Iranian peoples...
- Pan-African colorsPan-African coloursTwo different sets of three colours are referred to as the Pan-African colours: the red, green and gold first used in the flag of Ethiopia and Eritrea before the countries broke apart; and the red, green and black adopted by the American-based Universal Negro Improvement Association and African...