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The current flag of Syria was re-adopted in 1980. It is also the flag of the former United Arab Republic.

History

The first flag to be used by the Syrians, in 1920, was the current flag of Jordan with the green and white colors reversed. The colors and design were taken from the Pan-Arab flag. The star stood for the fact the Syria was the first country to use the Pan-Arab colors. The French changed the flag of Syria under their mandate into a blue flag with a white circle in the center and a French flag in the canton. After a month the flag was changed into a horizontally striped green-white-green flag with a French tricolor in the canton. This flag was in use from 1925 until 1936 (along with flags of several cantons into which Syria was divided under French colonial rule). Then the flag was changed into a horizontally striped green-white-black tricolour flag with three red five-pointed stars in the center of the white stripe. This followed the signing of the Franco-Syrian treaty which gave Syria partial independence. The first national flag of Syria after independence in 1944 was this green-white-black flag with three red stars. In 1958, Syria and Egypt merged to form the United Arab Republic and adopted the red-white-black design with two green stars that is Syria's current flag. When Syria left the UAR in 1961 it briefly reverted to its old green-white-black flag. However, the Ba'athist coup in 1963 led to a red-white-black flag with three green stars in the white band (the same flag used by Iraq at the time — rumors of a union between the two nations abounded). In 1971, a red-white-black flag with a golden hawk in the white stripe was used as a flag for the Federation of Arab Republics which consisted of Syria, Egypt and Libya. In 1981, the current red-white-black flag with two green stars in the white stripe was re-adopted.

Symbolism

The colors of the flag are traditional Pan-Arab colors, also seen on the flags of Yemen, Egypt, Sudan, and Iraq. The two stars represent Egypt and Syria, the two participating nations in the United Arab Republic. The green is thought to be the color of the Fatimids, white the color of the Umayyads, black the color of Abbasids and red the color of the blood of martyrs, although it is thought that red was the color of the Hashemite dynasty and it was added after Sharif Hussayn of Hijaz agreed to join the Arab revolt of 1916.

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