Middle East

Israel 1

Israel

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The flag of Israel was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the establishment of the State of Israel. It depicts a blue Star of David on a white background, between two horizontal blue stripes.

The blue colour is described as “dark sky-blue”, and varies from flag to flag, ranging from a hue of pure blue, sometimes shaded almost as dark as navy blue, to hues about 75% toward pure cyan and shades as light as very light blue.

The flag was designed for the Zionist Movement in 1891. The basic design recalls the Tallit (טַלִּית), the Jewish prayer shawl, which is white with black or blue stripes. The symbol in the center represents the Star of David (Magen David, מָגֵן דָּוִד), a Jewish symbol dating from late medieval Prague, which was adopted by the First Zionist Congress in 1897.

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Iraq 2

Iraq

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The flag of Iraq (Arabic: علم العراق‎) includes the three equal horizontal red, white, and black stripes of the Arab Liberation flag.

This basic tricolor has been in use since its adoption on 31 July 1963, with several changes to the green symbols in the central white stripes; the most recent version adopted on 29 January 2008 bears the takbīr rendered in dark green. The colours of Iraq’s flag represent 4 different things: Black represents oppression and triumph, White represents bright future and generosity, Red stands for the blood of martyrs, and Green stands for Islam.

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Iran 3

Iran

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The parliament of Iran, per the 1980 constitution, changed the flag and seal of state insofar as the Lion and Sun were replaced by the red emblem in the centre of the flag. Designed by Hamid Nadimi, and officially approved by Parliament and the Leader Grand Ayatollah Khomeini on 9 May 1980, this emblem is a highly stylized composite of various Islamic elements: a geometrically symmetric form of the word Allah (“God”) and overlapping parts of the phrase lā ʾilāha ʾillā l-Lāh, (There is no God Except Allah), forming a monogram in the form of a tulip it consists of four crescents and a line. The tulip shape of the emblem as a whole memorializes those who have died for Iran and symbolizes the values of patriotism and self-sacrifice, building on a legend that red tulips grow from the shed blood of martyrs.

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Egypt 4

Egypt

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

The Egyptian Free Officers who toppled King Farouk in the Revolution of 1952 assigned specific symbolism to each of the three bands of the revolutionary and liberation flag. The red band symbolizes the Egyptians’ blood in the war against colonization. The white band symbolizes the purity of the Egyptian’s heart. The black band below the white symbolizes the manner in which darkness is overcome.

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Cyprus 5

Cyprus

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The state flag features the shape of the entirety of the island, with two olive branches below (a symbol of peace between the island’s two communities) on white (another symbol of peace). The olive branches signify peace between the Greeks and Turks. The map on the flag is a copper-orange color, symbolizing the large deposits of copper ore on the island, from which it may have received its name.

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Bahrain 6

Bahrain

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The national flag of Bahrain 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. The five white triangles symbolize the five pillars of Islam. It is sometimes mistaken for the flag of Qatar, but that flag is maroon, not red, has more points (9) and normally has a much greater length-to-width ratio.

The earliest known flags of Bahrain were plain red. In 1820, Bahrain signed a general maritime treaty with the British Empire, and as result, a white stripe was added to the flag to signify the treaty and to distinguish it from the flags commonly used by pirates. In 1932, a serrated edge was added to the flag in order to differentiate it from those of its neighbours.

The flag originally had twenty-eight white points, but this was reduced to eight in 1972. On 14 February 2002, the number was again reduced to five, so that each of the points could stand for one of the Five Pillars of Islam.

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Afghanistan Flag on Our Flagpole

Afghanistan

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The political history of the modern state of Afghanistan began with the Hotak and Durrani dynasties in the 18th century. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan became a buffer state in the “Great Game” between British India and the Russian Empire. Its border with British India, the Durand Line, was formed in 1893 but it is not recognized by the Afghan government and it has led to strained relations with Pakistan since the latter’s independence in 1947. Following the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919 the country was free of foreign influence, eventually becoming a monarchy under King Amanullah, until almost 50 years later when Zahir Shah was overthrown and a republic was established. In 1978, after a second coup Afghanistan first became a socialist state and then a Soviet Union protectorate. This evoked the Soviet–Afghan War in the 1980s against mujahideen rebels. By 1996 most of Afghanistan was captured by the Islamic fundamentalist group the Taliban, who ruled most of the country as a totalitarian regime for over five years. The Taliban were forcibly removed by the NATO-led coalition, and a new democratically-elected government political structure was formed.

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