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Independence flag

Use	De facto national flag of Syria
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	1930; 94 years ago (1930) (original version) In de facto use since 8 December 2024Used by the Syrian opposition since 2012
Design	A horizontal tricolour of green, white, and black; charged with three red five-pointed stars at the centre.

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Since gaining independence from France in 1946, Syria has used a number of different flags, all featuring the pan-Arab colors of green, black, white, and red. Initially a green, white and black triband charged with three red five-pointed stars, known as the Independence flag, was used. In Ba'athist Syria, this was replaced by the flag of the United Arab Republic with red, white and black tribands with either two or three green stars or charged with the national coat of arms. Following the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024, the independence flag once again began to be used within the country by the Syrian parliament and the Syrian transitional government, and at Syrian embassies abroad.

Color scheme

Approximations

	Red	White	Green	Black
RGB	206/17/38	255/255/255	0/122/61	0/0/0
Hexadecimal	#CE1126	#FFFFFF	#007A3D	#000000
CMYK	12/100/98/3	0/0/0/0	89/27/100/15	75/68/67/90
Pantone	186 C	White	7726 C	Black
Valid for
Source

Historic flags of Syria

Kingdom of Syria (1920)

The Ottoman flag had been used in Syria until the Ottomans left the country on 18 September 1918. In 1918, the official flag of Syria was the Faysal flag, or Flag of the Arab Revolt, the flag of the 1916–1918 Arab Revolt against the Ottomans. It was officially adopted by the Hashemite family on 30 September 1918 and remained in use until 8 March 1920. This was the first flag to use the green/red/white/black combination seen in most subsequent Syrian flags. The colors' symbolism has been described as follows: white for the Damascene Umayyad period, green for the Caliph Ali, red for the Khawarij radical Islamic movement, and black for the Islamic prophet Muhammad, showing the "political use of religion" in opposition to the increasingly secularized Turkish colonial rule. Alternately, it has been argued that the horizontal colors stand for the Abbasid (black), Umayyad (white) and Fatimid (green) Caliphates and the red triangle to the Hashemite dynasty.

Under the Arab Kingdom of Syria, the Faisal flag was redesigned with a 7-pointed white star imposed on the red triangle, and was in use until 24 July 1920. This flag was, however, adopted by Jordan somewhat later. The kingdom lasted for just over four months in 1920 before being occupied by France and formally incorporated into the French colonial empire for 12 years.

French Mandate flags (1920–1932)

The Faysal flag was abandoned with the arrival of French colonials to Syria. The French High Commissioner for Syria, General Henri Gouraud adopted the new flag of the French Mandate of Syria (blue with a white crescent, see below) on 24 July 1920. The flag was based on the flag of the Shebab Emirate used between 1697 and 1842, which stood for "the love of peace". Gouraud's flag was in use until 1 September 1920, after which Syria was split into separate territories, each eventually given its own flag (see below). On 22 June 1922 Gouraud established the Federation of Syria, which used a green-white-green flag with a French flag canton. When this federation was consolidated into the State of Syria in 1925 the same flag continued to be used until the establishment of the republic on 14 May 1930.

Independence flag

The flag of the newly established Syrian Republic, under the French mandate was determined by the 1930 constitution. The constitution was drafted by a parliamentary committee led by nationalist leader Ibrahim Hananu. At first, French authorities refused to allow the constituent assembly to ratify the constitution, and Henri Ponsot, the High Commissioner of the Levant, dissolved the assembly on 5 February 1929. After a public uproar, French authorities rescinded their decision and decided to approve the draft with some changes. On 14 May 1930, Ponsot issued decree number 3111, which approved the Syrian-drafted "Constitution of the Syrian Republic", and which in Article IV of Part I states:

" Syrian flag will be as follows: length double width, and is divided into three parallel and equal colours, the highest green, white then black, that the white section contains in a straight line three red five-pointed stars".

— Article IV, Part I, Constitution of the Syrian Republic

The flag's green colour stood for the Rashidun, white represented the Umayyads and black symbolised the Abbasids. Originally, the three red stars represented the three districts of Syria: the "states" of Aleppo, Damascus, and Deir ez-Zor. In 1936, the Sanjak of Latakia and Jebel Druze were added to Syria, and the representation of the three stars was changed, with the first representing the districts of Aleppo, Damascus and Deir ez-Zor, the second Jebel Druze, and the final star representing Sanjak of Latakia. The flag was used as a symbol for the desire for autonomy, for Syrians to rally around when France reneged on its agreement to leave the country, due to the outbreak of World War II. The symbolism was as follows: black for the dark oppressed past, white for a promising future and red for the blood to be sacrificed to move from the former to the latter. The flag was adopted when Syria gained its independence on 17 April 1946. The standard was used until the creation of the United Arab Republic, a state union of Syria and Egypt, in 1958. After the collapse of the United Arab Republic, Syria continued to use the UAR's flag until 28 September 1961, when the independence flag was restored to disassociate Syria from the former failed union.

United Arab Republic and Ba'athist Syria

United Arab Republic

Syria united with Egypt in February 1, 1958 to form the United Arab Republic (UAR). Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was the president of Egypt and later president of the UAR, introduced a new flag in April 1958 to replace the previous independence flag and promote Arab unity. The new flag featured red, white, and black horizontal bands from the Egyptian revolutionary flag, with two green stars representing Egypt and Syria. It was based on the Arab Liberation Flag of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which used four pan-Arab colours—black, green, white, and red—representing the Abbasid, Fatimid, Umayyad, and Hashemite dynasties. However, the new UAR flag had two stars to represent the two parts of the UAR. After Syria left the UAR in 1961, the previous independence flag was reintroduced.

Ba'athist Syria

Following the 1963 Ba'athist coup d'état, a new flag was adopted by its Revolutionary Command Council on 8 March 1963, and was used until 1 January 1972. In February 1963, the Ba'athist regime came to power in Iraq as well, and the two Ba'athist governments began negotiations in Cairo in order to once again form a union between Egypt, Syria and Iraq. The process failed after the Iraqi Ba'athist government was overthrown in November 1963 but both Syria and Iraq did adopt a new flag to represent the union. This flag was not much different from the flag of the UAR, with only a change from two stars to three, in order to represent the addition of Iraq to the Federation. The three stars represented the unity of Egypt, Syria and Iraq, as well as three pillars of Ba'athism: unity, freedom, and socialism.

President Hafez al-Assad adopted a new flag on 1 January 1972, as Syria joined Egypt and Libya in the Federation of Arab Republics. The green stars were replaced by the Hawk of Quraish (the symbol of the tribe of Muhammad). The eagle held the ribbon with the name of the Federation, but unlike Egypt and Libya, Syria did not include its name on the coat of arms. This flag was an official flag during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The Federation was dissolved in 1977, but Syria continued to use the flag for the next three years. The flag was abrogated on 29 March 1980, and replaced by the two-star flag in order to show Syria's commitment to Arab unity.

The national flag of Ba'athist Syria used between 1980 and 2024 was first adopted in 1958 when Syria was part of the United Arab Republic, and was used until 1961. Since its first adoption, variations of the red-white-black flag have been used in various Arab Unions of Syria with Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, and Iraq. Although Syria is not part of any Arab state union, the flag of the United Arab Republic was readopted to show Syria's commitment to Arab unity. The usage of the flag has become disputed because it is often associated with the Ba'ath Party and has come to represent parties loyal to Bashar al-Assad's government in the Syrian civil war. Since the victory of the Syrian revolution and subsequent fall of the Assad regime in 2024, the flag is no longer in use.

The Ba'athist Syrian flag is described in Article 6 of the Constitution of Syria. The first paragraph of the Article states:

The flag of the Syrian Arab Republic consists of four colours: red, white and black, with two green stars, of five angles each. The flag is rectangular, with its width measuring two-thirds of its length. It is divided into three rectangles of identical dimensions and have the same length as the flag. The upper one is red, the middle being white and the bottom one is black, with the two green stars in the middle of the white rectangle.

— 1st Paragraph of Article 6 of the Syrian Constitution

The early revival of the independence flag (2006)

In 2006, Safouh Al Barazi, a lifelong Syrian activist and member of a prominent family from Hama, launched a campaign in Canada advocating for the adoption of the pre-Ba’athist Syrian flag. This flag, featuring green, white, and black horizontal stripes with three red stars, was originally used by Syria following its independence from French mandate rule in 1946.

Al Barazi’s efforts aimed to symbolize a return to Syria’s democratic roots and to unify opposition against the ruling regime. His campaign gained momentum within Syrian communities in Canada, United States (Washington) and internationally, contributing to the flag’s resurgence as a symbol of the Syrian opposition during the civil uprising that began in 2011.

The “Independence flag” has since been widely adopted by various opposition groups and protesters, both within Syria and among the diaspora, representing aspirations for freedom and democratic governance. Al Barazi’s early advocacy in Canada and in Washington played a significant role in reintroducing this historic emblem to the forefront of the Syrian opposition movement.

Syrian revolution

During the Syrian civil war, the Syrian opposition, represented by the Syrian National Council, then by the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (commonly named the Syrian National Coalition) used a modified version of the independence flag first used in 1932 with a 2:3 aspect ratio. The modified independence flag began to be used as a universal display of the protesting opposition in late 2011. The opposition wanted to distinguish themselves from the current Syrian government and favoured the use of the flag used when Syria gained its independence from France. Khaled Kamal, an official from the Syrian National Council, now believes this flag to also represent independence and the end of Bashar al-Assad's government. Today the flag is mainly used in areas controlled by the Syrian National Coalition. The use of the modified independence flag is similar to the Libyan rebels' use of the pre-Gaddafi red-black-green-white Libyan flag from the era of the Kingdom of Libya in opposition to Muammar Gaddafi's green flag. The original 1:2 aspect ratio flag has been used by the opposition unofficially on several occasions.

Syrian transitional government

Following the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian transitional government restored the old independence flag with a 2:3 aspect ratio. The flag was also adopted by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria some days later and is also used by the Turkish-backed Syrian Interim Government in the North. The transitional government additionally displayed an Islamic flag depicting the Shahada in black on a white field at its first meeting, which led to criticism.

See also

• National symbols of Syria
• Coat of arms of Syria
• Pan-Arab colors
• Flag of the Arab Revolt

References

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6. https://pministry.gov.sy/
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22. The 1930 Constitution is integrally reproduced in: Giannini, A. (1931). "Le costituzioni degli stati del vicino oriente" (in French). Istituto per l'Oriente. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
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Bibliography

• Goodarzi, Jubin M. (2006). Syria and Iran: Diplomatic Alliance and Power Politics in the Middle East. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-84511-127-4.
• Heydemann, Steven (1999). Authoritarianism in Syria: Institutions and Social Conflict, 1946–1970. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-2932-3.
• Lawson, Fred H. (2006). Constructing International Relations in the Arab World. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-5372-2.
• King, Stephen J. (2009). The New Authoritarianism in the Middle East and North Africa. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-35397-9.
• Podeh, Elie (1999). The Decline of Arab Unity: The Rise and Fall of the United Arabic Republic. Sussex Academic Press. ISBN 978-1-902210-20-9.
• Schumann, Cristoph (2008). Liberal Thought in the Eastern Mediterranean: Late 19th Century Until the 1960s. BRILL. ISBN 9789004165489.
• Thomas, Martin (2007). Empires of Intelligence: Security Services and Colonial Disorder after 1914. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-25117-5.
• Thompson, Elizabeth (2000). Colonial Citizens: Republican Rights, Paternal Privilege, and Gender in French Syria and Lebanon. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-10661-0.

Further reading

• Mohammad Dibo Debate: The New Syria between Flags and Languages, SyriaUntold 14 June 2016.
• Hanano, Amal. "This Flag is my Flag". Jadaliyya – جدلية. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
• Syria at Flags of the World

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