Islamic Flags
Encyclopedia
An Islamic flag is a flag
that complies with Islam
ic rules. Traditionally Islamic flags were of solid colour. The most favoured colours were black, white, red and green. However, other plain colours can be adopted. A bi-colour or tricolour
(triband
) flag can also be adopted as an Islamic flag. An example of a traditional solid coloured Islamic flag would be the old flag of Libya
under Gaddafi.
community did not use any designs or geometric shapes as symbols on their flags. During the time of the Islamic prophet
, Muhammad
, Muslim armies and caravans flew simple solid-coloured flags (generally black or white) for identification purposes. In later generations, the Muslim leaders continued to use a simple black, white, or green flag with no markings, writings, or symbolism on it.
Muhammad used flags of different colours in different Ghazwat (or campaigns commanded by Muhammad himself) and Saraya (or campaigns commanded by any Sahaba
(the companions of Muhammad). The major flag of Muhammad was known as Al-Uqab (The Eagle); it was pure black
, without symbols or markings. Its name and colour was derived from the flag of the Quraysh, an Arabian tribe
, whose flag, also called Al-Uqaab, was black with an eagle.
It wasn't until the Ottoman Empire
that the crescent moon and star
became affiliated with the Muslim world. Legend holds that the founder of the Ottoman Dynasty
, Sultan
Osman I
, had a dream in which the crescent moon stretched from one end of the earth to the other. Taking this as a good omen, he chose to keep the crescent and make it the symbol of his dynasty. There is speculation that the five points on the star represent the Five Pillars of Islam
, but this is pure conjecture. The five points were not standard on the Ottoman flag
s, and it is still not standard on flags used in the Muslim world
today.
The Ottomans also used a flag with a crescent. When the first Ottoman Caliph
, Selim I
assumed power, the religious flag and the national flag were separated. While both flags featured a right facing crescent, the national flag was red and the religious flag green, and, at a later date a five-pointed star
was added. This type of flag has become the de facto
Islamic flag, and is used, with variations, by multiple Muslim lands such as Algeria
, Azerbaijan
, the Comoros
, Malaysia
, Maldives
, Mauritania
, Pakistan
, Tunisia
, Turkey
, Turkmenistan
, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Uzbekistan
, and the Western Sahara. As the crescent and star have no religious significance however, some Muslim scholars are against attaching these signs on mosque
s and minaret
s or using them to denote Muslim societies.
White was also traditionally the colour of the Umayyad Dynasty. The Abbasid Dynasty which succeeded them used a black flag. The Fatimid Dynasty of caliph
s, meanwhile, had green as their traditional colour
, while the Hashemite
s used red.
In 1911, at a meeting in Istanbul, it was decided that a modern flag to represent all Arabs should include all four of these colours. Three years later, al-Fatat
(the Young Arab Society), decreed that a future independent Arab state should use a flag of these colours, and on May 30, 1917 Hussein bin Ali
, Sharif of Mecca
, leader of the Hejaz Revolt
replaced his plain red flag with one horizontally striped in black, green, and white with a red triangular area at the hoist. This was seen as the birth of the pan-Arab flag
.
Since that time, many Arab nations, upon achieving independence or upon change of political regime, have used a combination of these colours in a design reflecting the Hejaz Revolt flag
. These flags include the current flags of Iraq
, Syria
, Yemen
, Egypt
, Kuwait
, United Arab Emirates
, Jordan
, Palestinian National Authority
, Algeria, and Sudan
, and former flags of Iraq and Libya.
Other Arab or predominantly Muslim nations have kept single colour flags, often with some symbol or script. These flags include those of Libya, Turkey, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Morocco
, and Saudi Arabia
. Pakistan's flag can also be considered alongside this group.
Where a symbol is used, most frequently it is the star and crescent. Script takes one of two forms, either the Shahada
or Allahu Akbar
("God is great"). Iraq uses the pan-Arab colours with the addition of Allahu Akbar—in recognizable form on Iraq's flag. Saudi Arabia
and Afghanistan
use the Shahadah, a declaration of faith: lā ilāha illā-llāh, wa muħammadan rasūlu-llāh in Arabic, translation "There is no god
but Allah
and Muhammad is His Prophet".
, flags are usually depicted in Islamic countries with the staff to the right. This is analogous to the right-to-left form of most Arabic and Arabic-influenced scripts. This can make for confusion when flag images are shown without an accompanying flagstaff, as it may not be immediately obvious which way around the flag is being depicted.
In keeping with Islamic law
, Muslim flags generally do not bear any representations of live creatures, though some Arab flags have the Eagle of Saladin
that are used as supporters on the Coats of Arms
. These flags are not necessarily Islamic in their nature; rather they more likely to derive from the Pan-Arabist
movement. It is rare to find plants depicted on flags of Muslim nations, even though this is permissible under Islamic guidelines. Some state and royal flags of Saudi Arabia depict palm trees.
The Taliban replaced their solid white flag with a white flag inscribed with the shahada in black as they took power in Afghanistan
in 1997.
Political Islamism
and Islamic terrorism has been using black flags inscribed with the shahada
in white since ca. 2001.
During the 2000s, it became popular in Islamist jargon to refer to the black flag as al-raya and the white flag as al-liwa', after the terms of the black and white flags flown by Muhammad
according to the hadith
. The white flag is sometimes identified as the "flag of the Caliphate
" while the black one is dubbed the "flag of Jihad
".
Flag
A flag is a piece of fabric with a distinctive design that is usually rectangular and used as a symbol, as a signaling device, or decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed by a flag, or to its depiction in another medium.The first flags were used to assist...
that complies with Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic rules. Traditionally Islamic flags were of solid colour. The most favoured colours were black, white, red and green. However, other plain colours can be adopted. A bi-colour or tricolour
Tricolour
A tricolour is a flag or banner more-or-less equally divided into three bands of differing colours...
(triband
Triband (flag)
The triband is one of the most common designs of flag, and is the design of some 30% of all current national flags.As the name suggests, the main feature of the design of a triband is three parallel bands of colour. Many non-vexillologists use the term tricolour to describe these flags, but...
) flag can also be adopted as an Islamic flag. An example of a traditional solid coloured Islamic flag would be the old flag of 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...
under Gaddafi.
Early history
The early MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
community did not use any designs or geometric shapes as symbols on their flags. During the time of the Islamic prophet
Prophets of Islam
Muslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...
, Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, Muslim armies and caravans flew simple solid-coloured flags (generally black or white) for identification purposes. In later generations, the Muslim leaders continued to use a simple black, white, or green flag with no markings, writings, or symbolism on it.
Muhammad used flags of different colours in different Ghazwat (or campaigns commanded by Muhammad himself) and Saraya (or campaigns commanded by any Sahaba
Sahaba
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
(the companions of Muhammad). The major flag of Muhammad was known as Al-Uqab (The Eagle); it was pure black
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:...
, without symbols or markings. Its name and colour was derived from the flag of the Quraysh, an Arabian tribe
Tribes of Arabia
Tribes of Arabia refers to Arab clans hailing from the Arabian Peninsula.Much of the lineage provided before Ma'ad relies on biblical genealogy and therefore questions persist concerning the accuracy of this segment of Arab genealogy...
, whose flag, also called Al-Uqaab, was black with an eagle.
Crescent moon and star
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
that the crescent moon and star
Star and crescent
A star and crescent featuring in some combination form the basis of symbols widely found across the ancient world, with examples attested from the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia....
became affiliated with the Muslim world. Legend holds that the founder of the Ottoman Dynasty
Ottoman Dynasty
The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...
, Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Osman I
Osman I
Osman I or Othman I or El-Gazi Sultan Osman Ghazi, or Osman Bey or I. Osman, Osman Gazi Han), nicknamed "Kara" for his courage, was the leader of the Ottoman Turks, and the founder of the dynasty that established and ruled the Ottoman Empire...
, had a dream in which the crescent moon stretched from one end of the earth to the other. Taking this as a good omen, he chose to keep the crescent and make it the symbol of his dynasty. There is speculation that the five points on the star represent the Five Pillars of Islam
Five Pillars of Islam
The Pillars of Islam are basic concepts and duties for accepting the religion for the Muslims.The Shi'i and Sunni both agree on the essential details for the performance of these acts, but the Shi'a do not refer to them by the same name .-Pillars of Shia:According to Shia Islam, the...
, but this is pure conjecture. The five points were not standard on the Ottoman flag
Ottoman Flag
The term Ottoman flag refers to any of the flags used by the ruling Sultans of the Ottoman Dynasty. Various flags were used within the Ottoman Empire during its existence, and the sultan also used different personal flags on different occasions of state...
s, and it is still not standard on flags used in the Muslim world
Muslim world
The term Muslim world has several meanings. In a religious sense, it refers to those who adhere to the teachings of Islam, referred to as Muslims. In a cultural sense, it refers to Islamic civilization, inclusive of non-Muslims living in that civilization...
today.
The Ottomans also used a flag with a crescent. When the first Ottoman Caliph
Ottoman Caliphate
The Ottoman Caliphate, under the Ottoman Dynasty of the Ottoman Empire inherited the responsibility of the Caliphate from the Mamluks of Egypt....
, Selim I
Selim I
Selim I, Yavuz Sultân Selim Khan, Hâdim-ül Haramain-ish Sharifain , nicknamed Yavuz "the Stern" or "the Steadfast", but often rendered in English as "the Grim" , was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to...
assumed power, the religious flag and the national flag were separated. While both flags featured a right facing crescent, the national flag was red and the religious flag green, and, at a later date a five-pointed star
Five-pointed star
A five-pointed star is a very common ideogram throughout the world. If the colinear edges are joined together a pentagram is produced, which is the simplest of the unicursal star polygons, and a symbol of mystical and magical significance....
was added. This type of flag has become the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
Islamic flag, and is used, with variations, by multiple Muslim lands such as 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...
, Azerbaijan
Flag of Azerbaijan
The flag of Azerbaijan is the national flag of Azerbaijan. It consists of an horizontal tricolour of blue, red, and green, with a white crescent and an eight-pointed star centered in the red band. The blue band refers to the nation's Turkic heritage, the red stands for progress, and the green...
, the Comoros
Flag of the Comoros
The current flag of the Union of the Comoros was designed in 2001 and officially adopted on 7 January 2002. It continues to display the crescent and four stars, which is a motiff that has been in use in slightly various forms since 1975 during the independence movement...
, Malaysia
Flag of Malaysia
-Flag anthem:The Jalur Gemilang flag anthem was introduced in 1997. The lyrics were written by Pak Ngah.-Original lyrics:-Flag anthem:The Jalur Gemilang flag anthem was introduced in 1997. The lyrics were written by Pak Ngah.-Original lyrics:-Flag anthem:...
, Maldives
Flag of the Maldives
The flag of the Republic of Maldives is red with a large green rectangle in the center bearing a vertical white crescent; the closed side of the crescent is on the hoist side of the flag. It was adopted on July 25, 1965....
, Mauritania
Flag of Mauritania
The flag of Mauritania is the common name for the national flag of Mauritania in north-west Africa. The flag was adopted on April 1, 1959. It was introduced under the instructions of Moktar Ould Daddah, and the subsequent constitution of 22 March 1959....
, Pakistan
Flag of Pakistan
The national flag of Pakistan was adopted in its present form during a meeting of the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947, just three days before the country's independence, when it became the official flag of the Dominion of Pakistan. It was afterwards retained by the current-day Islamic...
, Tunisia
Flag of Tunisia
The flag of Tunisia, adopted as national flag in 1959, was in origin the naval ensign of the kingdom of Tunis, adopted either in 1831 or 1835 by Al-Husayn II ibn Mahmud...
, Turkey
Flag of Turkey
The flag of Turkey is a red flag with a white crescent moon and a star in its centre. The flag is called Ayyıldız or Albayrak . The Turkish flag is referred to as Alsancak in the Turkish National Anthem....
, Turkmenistan
Flag of Turkmenistan
The flag of Turkmenistan was adopted on January 24, 2001.It features a green field with a vertical red stripe near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to those on the flag of the United Nations; a white waxing crescent moon, typical of...
, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Uzbekistan
Flag of Uzbekistan
The flag of Uzbekistan was approved at the Seventh Extraordinary Session of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Uzbekistan, on November 18, 1991.- Symbolism :According to the Uzbek embassy:...
, and the Western Sahara. As the crescent and star have no religious significance however, some Muslim scholars are against attaching these signs on mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
s and minaret
Minaret
A minaret مناره , sometimes مئذنه) is a distinctive architectural feature of Islamic mosques, generally a tall spire with an onion-shaped or conical crown, usually either free standing or taller than any associated support structure. The basic form of a minaret includes a base, shaft, and gallery....
s or using them to denote Muslim societies.
The Pan-Arab flag and colours
Traditionally, early Arab flags were of one colour only, usually black or white, and charged with a religious inscription. It is thought that Muhammad himself used such flags, and it is said that his followers fought under a white flag.White was also traditionally the colour of the Umayyad Dynasty. The Abbasid Dynasty which succeeded them used a black flag. The Fatimid Dynasty of caliph
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
s, meanwhile, had green as their traditional colour
Green in Islam
Green is considered the traditional color of Islam.-Significance and symbolism:The Arabic word for "greenness" is mentioned several times in the Quran, describing the state of the inhabitants of paradise...
, while the Hashemite
Hashemite
Hashemite is the Latinate version of the , transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe...
s used red.
In 1911, at a meeting in Istanbul, it was decided that a modern flag to represent all Arabs should include all four of these colours. Three years later, al-Fatat
Al-fatat
Al-Fatat or the Young Arab Society was founded in 1911 by Arab nationalist, Izzat Darwaza .It was a secret Arab nationalist organization under the Ottoman Empire. Its aims were to gain independence and unity for various Arab nations then under the Ottoman rule. It found adherents in areas such as...
(the Young Arab Society), decreed that a future independent Arab state should use a flag of these colours, and on May 30, 1917 Hussein bin Ali
Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca
Sayyid Hussein bin Ali, GCB was the Sharif of Mecca, and Emir of Mecca from 1908 until 1917, when he proclaimed himself King of Hejaz, which received international recognition. He initiated the Arab Revolt in 1916 against the increasingly nationalistic Ottoman Empire during the course of the...
, Sharif of Mecca
Sharif of Mecca
The Sharif of Mecca or Hejaz was the title of the former governors of Hejaz and a traditional steward of the holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
, leader of the Hejaz Revolt
Arab Revolt
The Arab Revolt was initiated by the Sherif Hussein bin Ali with the aim of securing independence from the ruling Ottoman Turks and creating a single unified Arab state spanning from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen.- Background :...
replaced his plain red flag with one horizontally striped in black, green, and white with a red triangular area at the hoist. This was seen as the birth of the pan-Arab flag
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...
.
Since that time, many Arab nations, upon achieving independence or upon change of political regime, have used a combination of these colours in a design reflecting the Hejaz Revolt flag
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...
. These flags include the current flags of 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...
, 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...
, 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...
, 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...
, 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...
, Palestinian National 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:...
, Algeria, and 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...
, and former flags of Iraq and Libya.
Other Arab or predominantly Muslim nations have kept single colour flags, often with some symbol or script. These flags include those of Libya, Turkey, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Morocco
Flag of Morocco
The flag of Morocco is made of a red field with a black-bordered green pentagram.Red has considerable historic significance in Morocco, proclaiming the descent of the royal Alaouite family from the Prophet Muhammad via Fatima, the wife of Ali, the fourth Muslim Caliph. Red is also the color that...
, and Saudi Arabia
Flag of Saudi Arabia
The flag of Saudi Arabia is the flag used by the government of Saudi Arabia since March 15, 1973. It is a green flag featuring in white an Arabic inscription and a sword. The script on the flag is written in the Thuluth script...
. Pakistan's flag can also be considered alongside this group.
Shahada
The Shahada , means "to know and believe without suspicion, as if witnessed"/testification; it is the name of the Islamic creed. The shahada is the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet...
or Allahu Akbar
Takbir
The Takbīr or Tekbir is the Arabic term for the phrase ' . It is usually translated "God is [the] Greatest," or "God is Great". It is a common Islamic Arabic expression...
("God is great"). Iraq uses the pan-Arab colours with the addition of Allahu Akbar—in recognizable form on Iraq's flag. Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
use the Shahadah, a declaration of faith: lā ilāha illā-llāh, wa muħammadan rasūlu-llāh in Arabic, translation "There is no god
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
but Allah
God in Islam
In Islamic theology, God is the all-powerful and all-knowing creator, sustainer, ordainer, and judge of the universe. Islam puts a heavy emphasis on the conceptualization of God as strictly singular . God is unique and inherently One , all-merciful and omnipotent. According to the Islamic...
and Muhammad is His Prophet".
Representation of flags
Unlike the practice in most Western nationsWestern world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
, flags are usually depicted in Islamic countries with the staff to the right. This is analogous to the right-to-left form of most Arabic and Arabic-influenced scripts. This can make for confusion when flag images are shown without an accompanying flagstaff, as it may not be immediately obvious which way around the flag is being depicted.
In keeping with Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
, Muslim flags generally do not bear any representations of live creatures, though some Arab flags have the Eagle of Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
that are used as supporters on the Coats of Arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
. These flags are not necessarily Islamic in their nature; rather they more likely to derive from the Pan-Arabist
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...
movement. It is rare to find plants depicted on flags of Muslim nations, even though this is permissible under Islamic guidelines. Some state and royal flags of Saudi Arabia depict palm trees.
Islamic extremism
The Taliban replaced their solid white flag with a white flag inscribed with the shahada in black as they took power in Afghanistan
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was founded in 1996 when the Taliban began their rule of Afghanistan and ended with their fall from power in 2001...
in 1997.
Political Islamism
Islamism
Islamism also , lit., "Political Islam" is set of ideologies holding that Islam is not only a religion but also a political system. Islamism is a controversial term, and definitions of it sometimes vary...
and Islamic terrorism has been using black flags inscribed with the shahada
Shahada
The Shahada , means "to know and believe without suspicion, as if witnessed"/testification; it is the name of the Islamic creed. The shahada is the Muslim declaration of belief in the oneness of God and acceptance of Muhammad as God's prophet...
in white since ca. 2001.
During the 2000s, it became popular in Islamist jargon to refer to the black flag as al-raya and the white flag as al-liwa', after the terms of the black and white flags flown by Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
according to the hadith
Hadith
The term Hadīth is used to denote a saying or an act or tacit approval or criticism ascribed either validly or invalidly to the Islamic prophet Muhammad....
. The white flag is sometimes identified as the "flag of the Caliphate
Pan-Islamism
Pan-Islamism is a political movement advocating the unity of Muslims under one Islamic state — often a Caliphate. As a form of religious nationalism, Pan-Islamism differentiates itself from other pan-nationalistic ideologies, for example Pan-Arabism, by excluding culture and ethnicity as primary...
" while the black one is dubbed the "flag of Jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
".
External links
- Crescent Moon: Symbol of Islam? (islam.about.com)