United Arab Emirates, flag of the

United Arab Emirates, flag of the

▪ Flag History

      national flag consisting of horizontal stripes of green, white, and black and a vertical red stripe at the hoist. The flag's width-to-length ratio is 1 to 2.

      Great Britain compelled many of the small Arab states on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf to sign the so-called “General Treaty” of January 8, 1820. These states, which agreed to refrain from armed conflict, were subsequently referred to as Trucial Oman, or the Trucial Coast. To their plain red flag the General Treaty required that they add a white border as a symbol of their peaceful intents and their relationship with Britain. In 1966, six years after the formation of the Trucial States Council, only two of the countries (Ash-Shāriqah and Raʾs al-Khaymah) still used the white-bordered red flag. Three states—ʿAjmān, Dubayy, and Umm al-Qaywayn—had reduced the border to a white vertical stripe at the hoist, and the latter had also incorporated a white star and crescent in the centre of the red. Abu Dhabi had added a white canton to its red flag. Only Al-Fujayrah, which never signed the General Treaty, still flew a flag of plain red.

      On December 2, 1971, six of these states united to form the United Arab Emirates. (The seventh state, Raʾs al-Khaymah, joined the new country on February 11, 1972.) The new flag took its four colours from the Arab Revolt Flag of 1917. No explanation was given of the colour symbolism, but in other national flags derived from the same source the colours originally recalled those used by Arab dynasties of the past. Collectively they are referred to in a 13th-century poem by Ṣafī ad-Dīn al-Ḥilli that speaks of green Arab fields defended in black battles by the blood-red swords of Arabs whose deeds are pure white.

Whitney Smith
 

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • United Arab Emirates — an independent federation in E Arabia, formed in 1971, now comprising seven emirates on the S coast (formerly, Pirate Coast or Trucial Coast) of the Persian Gulf, formerly under British protection: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Qaiwain …   Universalium

  • Outline of the United Arab Emirates — The Coat of arms of the UAE The Flag of the United Arab Emirates …   Wikipedia

  • United Arab Emirates — <p></p> <p></p> Introduction ::United Arab Emirates <p></p> Background: <p></p> The Trucial States of the Persian Gulf coast granted the UK control of their defense and foreign affairs in 19th… …   The World Factbook

  • United Arab Emirates at the 2008 Summer Olympics — Infobox Olympics United Arab Emirates games = 2008 Summer competitors = 9 (7 men, 2 women) sports = 7 flagbearer = Maitha Al Maktoum [Cite web |title=Maitha proud to be a flag bearer |url=http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/08/07/09/10227357.html… …   Wikipedia

  • United Arab Emirates at the 2007 Asian Winter Games — Infobox Country WAsiad NOC=UAE flagcaption=Flag of United Arab Emirates games=2007 gamesloc=Changchun competitors=19 sports= flagbearer= gold= silver= bronze= total= rank=7 wasiadappearances=1986 • 1990 • 1996 • 1999 • 2003 • 2007 United Arab… …   Wikipedia

  • Flag of the United Arab Emirates — The flag of the United Arab Emirates ( ar. علم الإمارات العربية المتحدة) was adopted on December 2, 1971.It contains the Pan Arab colors red, green, white and black, which symbolize Arabian unity. In addition the individual colours have the… …   Wikipedia

  • United Arab Emirates national cricket team — Infobox non test cricket team country name = United Arab Emirates image caption = Flag of the UAE icc member year = 1989 icc status = Associate member icc region = Asia current captain = Arshad Ali WCL division = Two regional tournament = ACC… …   Wikipedia

  • United Arab Emirates — Émirats arabes unis Pour les articles homonymes, voir eau (homonymie). الإمارات العربية المتحدة (ar) …   Wikipédia en Français

  • United Arab Emirates national women's cricket team — Infobox women s national cricket team country name = United Arab Emirates image caption = Flag of UAE current captain = Natasha Cherriath first match = Yet to play representative cricket asofdate = 31 March 2008The United Arab Emirates national… …   Wikipedia

  • Portal:United Arab Emirates — Today is November 24, 2011 Wikipedia portals: Culture Geography Health History Mathematics Natural sciences People Philosophy Religion Society Technology …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”