Pan-Arab colors

Flag of the Arab Revolt^[1][2]

Flag of the Arab Liberation^[1]

Flag map of the Arab World.

The Pan-Arab colors are black, white, green, and red. Individually, each of the four Pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain Arab dynasty, or era.^[3] The black was the color of the banner of Muhammad and the Rashidun Caliphate; white was used by the Umayyad Caliphate; green was used by the Fatimid Caliphate; and red was the flag held by the Khawarij.^[4] The four colors derived their potency from a verse by 14th century Iraqi poet Safi Al-Din Al-Hilli: « White are our acts, black our battles, green our fields, and red our swords ».^[5]

Pan-Arab colors were first combined in 1916 in the flag of the Arab Revolt.^[6] 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,^[7] and formerly in the flag of the brief six month union of the Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan.

It may be noted that while Libya is an Arab country and has a flag with the same four colors, the colors have a different origin in this flag and are therefore not considered pan-Arab colors.

From the 1950s onwards, a sub-set of the Pan-Arab colors, the Arab Liberation colors, came to prominence. These consist of a tricolour of red, white and black bands, with green given less prominence. The Arab Liberation colors were inspired by the use of the Arab Liberation Flag in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.^[8] These appear in the current flags of Egypt, Iraq, Somaliland, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and formerly in the flags of the rival 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.^[7]

Current flags with Pan-Arab colors

Sovereign states

• 
  Egypt
• 
  Iraq
• 
  Jordan
• 
  Kuwait
• 
  Sudan
• 
  Syria
• 
  United Arab Emirates^[9]
• 
  Yemen
• 
  Libya

Unrecognized and partially recognized states

• 
  Palestine^[10]
• 
  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic
• 
  Somaliland

Former national flags with the Pan-Arab colors

• 
  Hejaz (1917–20)^[11]
• 
  Syria (OET Administration, 1918–20)^[12]
• 
  Syria (8 March 1920 – 24 July 1920)^[12]
• 
  Hejaz (1920–26)^[11]
• 
  Emirate of Jabal Shammar (1920–21)^[13]
• 
  Jordan (1921–28)^[14]
• 
  Iraq (1921–59)^[15]
• 
  Hejaz (as part of the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz, 1926–32)
• 
  Jordan (1928–39)^[14]
• 
  Syria (1932–58 and 1961–63),^[12] used currently (2011 onwards) by the Syrian Interim Government and the Free Syrian Army
• 
  Palestine (All-Palestine Government, 1948–59)^[16]
• 
  Egypt (1952–1958, flown alongside the national flag)
• 
  Arab Federation of Jordan and Iraq (14 February 1958 – 2 August 1958)^[17]
• 
  United Arab Republic (1958–61), Egypt (1961–72)
• 
  Iraq (1959–63)
• 
  North Yemen (1962–90)
• 
  Iraq (1963–91)^[18] and Syria (1963–72)^[12]
• 
  Palestine (1964–2006)^[16]
• 
  South Yemen (1967–90), used currently (2007 onwards) by the South Yemen Movement
• 
  Libya (1969–72)
• 
  Federation of Arab Republics
  (Egypt (1972–84), Syria (1972–80),^[12] and Libya (1972–77))
• 
  Lower Yafa
  (Yemen (1800-1967)
• 
  Mahra Sultanate (unknown-1967)
• 
  Arab Islamic Republic (proposed 1974, never implemented)
• 
  Iraq (1991–2004)^[18]
• 
  Iraq (2004–08)^[18]

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^[19]
• 
  Flag of Ottoman era autonomist "Young Arab Society" (1911–16), a precursor Arab flag^[20]
• 
  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^[21]
• 
  Flag used by the separatist National Council of Ahwaz in Khuzestan, Iran^[21][22]
• 
  Flag of the Arab Movement of Azawad (2012–present)

Historical Arab flags

• 
  Black flag, used by Muhammad (570–632), Rashidun Caliphate (632–661) and Abbasids (750–1258)^[23][24]
• 
  White flag, used by Umayyads (661–750)^[25]
• 
  Green flag, used by Fatimids (909–1171) and Libya (1977–2011)^[26]
• 
  Red flag, used by Khawarij, as well as Muslim states in Al-Andalus and Maghreb al-Aqsa^[27]

See also

• List of Arab flags
• Pan-Arabism
• Tricolour
• Pan-Slavic colors
• Pan-African colours

References

External links

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