Flag of Syria

The current flag was first adopted on February 22, 1958, as part of the Syrian-Egyptian unity phase that led to the creation of the United Arab Republic. The Syrian flag is divided into three equal stripes from top to bottom. The top stripe is red, the middle stripe is white, and the bottom stripe is black. On the middle (white) stripe are three green five-pointed stars.

What do the symbols and colors of the Syrian flag mean?

• red symbolizes the blood of martyrs, heroism and sacrifice for freedom;
• white symbolizes equality, harmony, tranquility and peace and indicates the Umayyad era;
• black symbolizes greatness, loyalty and valor and indicates the Abbasid era;
• green color indicates the Rashidun or Fatimid era;
• two stars represent the former alliance between Egypt and Syria.

History of the Syrian flag

The flag of the Ottoman Empire, a red field with a white sickle and star (the current flag of Turkey), remained the flag of Syria from 1844 until the last Ottoman troops left Damascus on September 30, 1918. 

The Faisali flag is the flag of the Great Arab Revolt (1916-1918). It was adopted as the official flag of Syria by the Hashemite royal family. It became official on September 30, 1918, and remained so until March 8, 1920, when Faisal I became King of Syria and the country's independence from the Ottoman Empire was officially proclaimed.

The second Faisal flag remained official from March 8, 1920, until King Faisal's rule was overthrown on July 24, 1920, and replaced by the French Mandate regime. Later, it was adopted as the official flag of Jordan with a change in colors.

The flag of the Kingdom of the Syrian Arab Republic ceased to exist when the vanguard of Gouraud's troops entered the country on July 24, 1920, after the latter's victory in the Battle of Maysalun. The flag was abolished and a new flag was proclaimed, which was blue in color and contained a white crescent in the middle, and a miniature French flag in the upper corner. After the French entered the country, they issued a series of decrees that later became known as partition decrees. These decrees were issued by the commander of the French armies in the East, Henri Gouraud, between August 1920 and March 1921, ordering the division of the country under the pretext of a lack of harmony between the peoples.

The Syrian flag (after the current one) was adopted on January 1, 1932, before the unification of Syria with Egypt in 1958. When the separation occurred, this flag officially returned for a short period until the Baath Party came to power on March 8, 1963, with the flag's official age of 27 years. This flag was called the "Flag of Independence" because it signified the liberation of Syria from the French mandate on April 17, 1946. The flag had the following appearance: its length is twice as long as its width, and it is divided into three equal parallel stripes of green, white and black, with the white part containing three red stars with five rays.

The current flag (with two stars) was first adopted during the reign of Gamal Abdel Nasser, President of the United Arab Republic. The independence flag was replaced in April 1958 in addition to laws that stipulated the design of the Syrian flag at the time to create a greater Arab identity. The new flag took the colors red, white and black from the colors of Arab unity, and the color of the stars on the flag was changed from red to green in honor of Syrian-Egyptian unity, as the two stars symbolize both Syria and Egypt.
In 1963, the Baathist governments of Syria and Iraq tried to create an alliance between Syria, Egypt and Iraq, but these attempts failed. However, both Syria and Iraq adopted a new flag to symbolize unity. This flag is identical to the flag of the United Arab Republic, except for the change in the number of stars from two to three. The three stars symbolize the unity of Egypt, Syria, and Iraq, as well as the goals of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party: unity, freedom, and socialism. In 1972, Syria joined the Union of Arab Republics along with Egypt and Libya, and adopted a new flag that replaced the stars with an eagle symbolizing the tribe of the Prophet Muhammad, the Quraysh. The union was dissolved in 1977, and Syria continued to use the union flag until 1980, when it was abolished and replaced with the current two-star flag previously used from 1958 to 1961 to demonstrate commitment to Arab unity.