Flag of Bahrain

Flag Ratio: 3:5

The national flag of Bahrain (Arabic: علم البحرين) consists of a white band on the left, separated from a red area on the right by five triangles that serve as a serrated line.

The five white triangles symbolize the 5 pillars of Islam, and the red side symbolizes the Khawarij sect of Islam.

It is sometimes mistaken for the flag of Qatar, but that flag is maroon, not red, has more points (9), and normally has a much greater length-to-width ratio.

Design

The white color comprises 1340 (32.5%) of the flag area, while the red color comprises 2740 (67.5%) of the area.

Measurements of the construction of the flag

Color

The color specification is red: Pantone 186 c / CMYK (%) C 0 – M 90 – Y 80 – K 5[1]

Use

The flag is used on land and at sea as a national, civil and war ensign. In 2002, the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, issued Decree by Law No.(4) for 2002, which pertained to the flag:

Other flags

History

The earliest known flags of Bahrain were plain red. In 1820, Bahrain signed a general maritime treaty with the British Empire, and as result, a white stripe was added to the flag to signify the treaty and to distinguish it from the flags commonly used by pirates.[2] In 1932, a serrated edge was added to the flag in order to differentiate it from those of its neighbours.[3]

The flag originally had twenty-eight white points, but this was reduced to eight in 1972.[3] On 14 February 2002, the number was again reduced to five, so that each of the points could stand for one of the Five Pillars of Islam.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 "National Flag of Bahrain". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  2. Complete Flags of the World (Dk). DK Publishing. 2014. p. 186. ISBN 978-1409353713.
  3. 1 2 Historical flags of Bahrain at Flags of the World
  4. Bahrain at Flags of the World
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