Pan-Arab Colors

The Pan-Arab colors are black, white, green and red. Individually, they have their origins in the flags of prominent empires, and dynasties in Arab history. They were first combined in the flag of the Arab Revolt in 1916. They are used currently in the flags of Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Sahrawi Republic, Sudan, Libya and the United Arab Emirates. A sub-set of the Pan-Arab colors are the Arab Liberation colors, in which green is less significant. These appear in the flags of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, and formerly in the flags of Libya, South Yemen, and the short-lived Arab unions of the United Arab Republic, and the Federation of Arab Republics.

Each of the four Pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain Arab dynasty, or era. The black was the color of the banner of Muhammad, and of the Abbasid Caliphate; white was used by the Umayyad Caliphate; green was used by the Fatimid Caliphate as a reminder of the Battle of Badr to symbolize their support of Ali Bin Abi Talib; red was the flag held by the Khawarij, and then became the symbol of rulers in the Maghreb, and Al-Andalus.

Other Arab states, while not using all of the Pan-Arab colors, do use some of them in other combinations. The flag of Algeria, for example, uses green, white, and red, but not black. However, such use is unrelated to the symbolism of the Pan-Arab colors.