The flag of the United Arab Emirates

United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

was adopted on December 2, 1971.

It contains the Pan-Arab colors

Pan-Arab colors

The Pan-Arab colors are black, white, green, and red. They were first combined in the flag of the Arab Revolt in 1916. They are used currently in the flags of Jordan, Kuwait, Palestinian Authority, Sahrawi Republic, Sudan, Libya and the United Arab Emirates. A sub-set of the Pan-Arab colors are...

 red, green, white and black, which symbolize Arabian unity.

In addition the individual colours have the following meanings:

• Green: Fertility
  Fertility
  Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
  
  
• White: Neutrality
  Neutral country
  A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
  
  
• Black: Oil wealth
  Petroleum
  Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights and other liquid organic compounds, that are found in geologic formations beneath the Earth's surface. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling...
  
  
• Red: blood+sword

Merchant ships may fly the alternative civil ensign

Civil ensign

The civil ensign is the national flag flown by civil ships to denote nationality...

, a red flag with the national flag in the canton

Flag terminology

Flag terminology is a jargon used in vexillology, the study of flags, to describe precisely the parts, patterns, and other attributes of flags and their display.-Description of standard flag parts and terms:...

.

Gallery

Flag of each emirate

Each of the seven emirates within the United Arab Emirates has its own flag:

External links

• First raising of the flag on 2 December, 1971 (photo)