The flag of the Republic of Maldives

Maldives

The Maldives , , officially Republic of Maldives , also referred to as the Maldive Islands, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls oriented north-south off India's Lakshadweep islands, between Minicoy Island and...

is red with a large 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...

 rectangle in the center bearing a vertical 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...

 crescent

Crescent

In art and symbolism, a crescent is generally the shape produced when a circular disk has a segment of another circle removed from its edge, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs of different diameters which intersect at two points .In astronomy, a crescent...

; the closed side of the crescent is on the hoist side of the flag. It was adopted on July 25, 1965.

The 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...

 rectangle represents the boldness of the nation's heroes, and their willingness to sacrifice their every drop of blood

Blood

Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....

 in defense of their country. The green rectangle in the center symbolizes peace and prosperity. The white crescent moon symbolizes a state of unified Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic faith.

The colors are:

• red: PMS 186C, RGB(210, 16, 52)
• green: PMS 348C, RGB(0, 126, 58)
• white

History

The earliest flag of the Maldives consisted of a plain red field. Later, a 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...

 and 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...

 striped hoist called the Dhandimathi (Dhivehi

Dhivehi language

Maldivian is an Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by about 350,000 people in the Maldives where it is the national language. It is also the first language of nearly 10,000 people in the island of Minicoy in the Union territory of Lakshadweep, India where the Mahl dialect of the Maldivian...

: ދަނޑިމަތި) was added to the flag.

This version of the flag was used until early in the 20th century, when Abdul Majeed Didi added a crescent to the national flag. At the same time, a distinct state flag was made, which had the crescent on a green rectangle. These changes were made some time between 1926 and 1932, during Abdul Majeed's term as Prime Minister.

In 1953, the Maldives became a republic, resulting in another flag change. The national flag was dropped and the crescent on the state flag was reversed, so that it faced the hoist. The Sultanate was restored in 1954, but the flag was not changed back. Instead, Muhammad Fareed Didi

Muhammad Fareed Didi

King Muhammad Fareed Didi , the son of the Sultan Prince Abdul Majeed Didi . Muhammed Fareed Didi was the last Sultan of Maldives and the first Maldivian Monarch to assume the title of "King" with the style of "Your Majesty". He was the Sultan of Maldives from March 7, 1954 until November 11, 1968...

 created a new flag specifically for the Sultan, with a five-pointed star next to the crescent. A version of this flag is still used today as the Presidential Standard

Presidential Standard

Several countries use the term Presidential Standard or Presidential Flag to describe the flag used by a president.*Presidential Standard of Argentina*Presidential Standard of Austria*Presidential Standard of Belarus*Presidential Standard of Brazil...

.

When the Maldives gained independence in 1965, the black and white hoist was removed, giving the flag its modern form.