Syrian flag

The Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) is a state in the Middle East. The history of its civilization is several thousand years old. The capital, Damascus, is one of the oldest capitals in the world. Despite this Syrian statehood is only a few decades old. The area of its territory is 185.2 thousand sq. km and the population is 18.8 million people.

This is what a modern Syrian flag looks like:

History of the flag

The territory of modern Syria in different historical periods belonged to different peoples and states – from the Roman Empire to the Arab Caliphate. Since 1517. Syria was part of the Ottoman Empire for 400 years.

After the defeat in World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the Syrian Arab Kingdom was established in 1920. Although it lasted only 139 days (8/03-24/07), its impact on the Arab world is still felt today. The kingdom then created its own symbolism, taking as its basis the symbol of the Arab Revolt, with the difference that in the center of the red triangle a seven-pointed star was represented.

By the way! In spite of the short life of the monarchy, a royal standard was also developed.

The fall of the kingdom of Syria began after the signing of the Anglo-French agreement in San Remo (April 25), which gave France a mandate for Syria and Lebanon. This status received its own symbolism as well.

In parallel, states (states) were created on the territory of Syria: Damascus, Aleppo, Alawites, Jabal al-Druz, Great Lebanon and Hatay (region of Turkey). The common symbol for all was the flag of the Union of Syrian States.

In 1930, the Republic of Syria was created and the country’s constitution was promulgated, in which a new flag was also mentioned. In 1932 Syria received partial independence from France and became a Republic. The three red stars on the cloth signified the provinces included in its composition: Aleppo, Damascus and Deir ez-Zor. In 1936 two more provinces joined Syria: Jabal al-Druz and Latakia. This version of the flag was also used after full independence in 1946.

1958 marked the creation of a new state – the United Arab Republic represented by Syria and Egypt. For such a union, another symbol was designed – a red-white-black cloth with two green stars on a white stripe. In 1961, Syria withdrew from the UAR and restored the previous symbol with three stars.

With the coming to power of the Baath Party (Arab Socialist Renaissance), the country’s flag changed – the green stripe was replaced by a red one. The three green stars in this case meant “Unity, Freedom, Socialism.

For the record! In the same year, the Baath Party also came to power in Iraq and the Iraqi flag also took on a red, white and black color scheme. Instead of stars, the slogan “God is great” was written in green.

From 1972 to 1977, three Arab states – Syria, Egypt and Libya – were united within the Federation of Arab Republics and their symbol was a tricolor cloth with an eagle in the center. After the collapse of the federation, Egypt retained this version of the flag, while Syria restored the 1958 version of the symbol for itself.

This version was finally adopted as a national symbol in March 1980.

Description

The color tones of the ATS symbol are traditional for the symbols of Arab countries. The rectangular cloth is divided into three horizontal equal sectors: a red stripe, a white stripe, and a black stripe. Their sequence is from top to bottom.

On the white field in the center there are two symmetrically placed five-pointed stars of green color. The distance between them is 1/3 of the flag length. The proportions of the sides of the flag relate to each other as 2 to 3.

Flag colors

The ATS flag is represented by four colors: red, white, black and green.

Meaning of colors and flag symbol

The colors of the symbols of the Republic symbolize the dynasties that ruled the country simultaneously throughout history.

1. Red – Kharijites: a 7th century Islamic group. This coloring also refers to the Hashemites.
2. White – representing the Umayyad dynasty, who used this tone as a mourning tone. The period of the dynasty was 661-750.
3. Black – symbolizes the Prophet Muhammad and the Abbasid Caliphate (8th-12th centuries).
4. Green represents the Fatimid Caliphate and also symbolizes the Islamic religion.

The colors of the ATS symbol have other interpretations:

• red – blood spilled during the struggle for independence and freedom;
• white is the world;
• black – the colonial past of the ATS;
• The stars are the peoples of Syria and Egypt, which became part of the OAR.

Similar flags

In addition to the Egyptian and Iraqi flags, the symbols of Sudan and Yemen are also similar to the Syrian symbol.

The symbol of the German Empire (the Second Reich) from the period 1867-1919 had a similar coloring of the stripes, but in reverse order.

Other Flags

The symbols of other state structures include:

• The Standard of the President of the SAR;

• ATS armed forces;

• Syrian Arab Army;

• fleet;

• Air Force.

Interesting facts about the flag

With the outbreak of the civil war (2011), the opposing sides are acting under their own banners. Among them:

• Syria’s interim government,

• government of salvation,

• Syrian Turkmens,

• Syrian Kurds.

General information about Syria

Map of Syria