Flag of Palestine

This article is about the flag used to represent the modern State of Palestine. For the flag of the British Mandate, see Flag of Mandatory Palestine.

State of Palestine
UseNational flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Reverse side is mirror image of obverse side
Proportion1:2
Adopted28 May 1964; 60 years ago (1964-05-28) (PLO)
15 November 1988; 36 years ago (1988-11-15) (State of Palestine)
DesignA horizontal tricolour of black, white, and green; with a red triangle based at the hoist.
UsePresidential standard[1] Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Reverse side is mirror image of obverse side
Proportion1:2
DesignA horizontal tricolour of black, white, and green; with a red triangle based at the hoist charged with the coat of arms above a golden wreath of laurel leaves in the fly end.
UseState flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Reverse side is mirror image of obverse side
DesignA horizontal tricolour of black, white, and green; with a red triangle based at the hoist charged with the coat of arms above two crossed white swords in the upper hoist corner.

The flag of the State of Palestine (Arabic: علم فلسطين, romanized: ʿalam Filasṭīn) is a tricolour of three equal horizontal stripes—black, white, and green from top to bottom—overlaid by a red triangle issuing from the hoist. It displays the pan-Arab colours, which were first combined in the current style during the 1916 Arab Revolt, and represents the Palestinian people and the State of Palestine.

Used since the 1920s, the Palestinian flag's overall design is almost identical to the flag of the Arab Revolt, with the pan-Arab colours representing four historical Arab dynasties. It was flown during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine and has also been used extensively in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, especially after it was officially adopted as the Palestinian people's flag when the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964. Since 2015, the State of Palestine has observed a Flag Day every 30 September.[2] Since 2021, the Palestinian flag has been lowered to half-mast every 2 November to lament the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which was issued by the United Kingdom, supporting a "national home for the Jewish people" in what was then Ottoman Palestine.[3]

During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, where it then outlawed the Palestinian flag, which remained until the early 1990s, when Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords.[4] In practice, however, the flag is still routinely confiscated by Israeli authorities throughout the Israeli-occupied territories.[5] In 2023, Amnesty International released a report condemning new Israeli government restrictions on displays of the Palestinian flag as "an attempt to legitimize racism" by suppressing "a symbol of unity and resistance to Israel’s unlawful occupation" in the Palestinian territories.[6] The watermelon symbol rose to defy Israeli restrictions on the Palestinian flag between 1967 and 1993, and continues to be used today as an expression of Palestinian nationalism worldwide.[5]

  1. ^ "Flags of the World". Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Palestinians celebrate Flag Day marking two years since hoisting it at UN". WAFA Agency.
  3. ^ "Palestinian flag to be flown at half mast to mourn Balfour Declaration". The Jerusalem Post | Jpost.com. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference kellman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference AJ11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference AI11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).