thumb|Egyptian flag in [[Island Harbour Marina|Island Harbour, England]]
The national flag of Egypt is a tricolour consisting of the three equal horizontal red, white, and black bands of the Arab Liberation Flag that dates back to the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. The flag bears Egypt's national emblem, the Egyptian eagle of Saladin, centred in the white band.
Symbolism
In 1952, the Egyptian Free Officers who toppled King Farouk in the 23 July Revolution assigned specific symbolism to each of the three bands of the revolutionary and liberation flag. The red band symbolizes the Egyptians’ blood in the war against colonization. The white band symbolizes the purity of the Egyptians’ hearts. The black band below the white symbolizes the manner in which darkness is overcome.
The Eagle in the center is regarded as the Egyptian eagle of Saladin, which in itself reflects a much older origin in Egyptian history, as it represents the Egyptian vulture. In Ancient Egypt, several hieroglyphs include the Egyptian vulture including what is listed as G1 in the Gardiner's sign list – U+1313F 𓄿. The bird was held sacred to Isis and Mut in ancient Egyptian religion.
Egypt's Revolutionary and Liberation flag, which was designed on 23 July 1952, was then an inspiration to several Arab countries and was adopted by many Arab states. The same horizontal tricolour is used by Iraq, Sudan and Yemen (and formerly Libya and Syria), the only difference being the presence (or absence) of distinguishing national emblems in the white band.
Colours scheme
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!30px
! style="background:#c8102e; width:200px" | <span style="color:white;">Red</span>
! style="background:#FFFFFF; width:200px" | <span style="color:black;">White</span>
! style="background:#000000; width:200px" | <span style="color:white;">Black</span>
! style="background:#ffcd00; width:200px" | <span style="color:white;">Gold</span>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | Pantone
| <code>PMS 186</code> || – || <code>PMS Black</code> were used in protests against the British (the latter symbolizing that both Egypt's Muslim and Christian communities supported the Egyptian nationalist movement against the occupation).
<gallery>
File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (also used in Egypt).svg| Flag used in the Egyptian Eyalet (1793–1844)
File:Flag of Egypt (1844-1867).svg| Egyptian Eyalet (1844–1867)
File:Flag of Muhammad Ali.svg| Flag used in Egypt during the rules of Isma'il Pasha and Tewfik Pasha (1867–1881)
File:Egypt flag 1882.svg| Flag of the Khedivate of Egypt (1881–1914) and the Sultanate of Egypt (1914–1922)
File:Sultanate of Egypt Protectorate Ensign.svg| Protectorate ensign of the Sultanate of Egypt (1914–1922)
</gallery>
Kingdom of Egypt (1922–1953)
right|thumb| Flag of the [[Kingdom of Egypt (1922–1953) and co-official flag of the Republic of Egypt (1953–1958), sometimes used by the Egyptian opposition]]
In 1922, the UK agreed to formally recognize Egyptian independence, but only on the condition that the Sultan of Egypt, Fuad I, change his title to King. Upon so doing, the now King Fuad issued a Royal Decree formally adopting a new national flag of a white crescent with three white stars on a green background in it.
Officially, and according to the official website of the Egyptian Presidency, the three white stars representing the three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism Other opinions suggest that it symbolized the three component territories of the Kingdom, namely Egypt, Nubia, and Sudan, while the green signifies the agricultural nature of the country.
Republic of Egypt (1953–1958) – Egyptian Free Officers movement
alt=|thumb| Egyptian Revolution Flag (1953–1958) – the tricolor of the [[Egyptian Revolution of 1952|1952 Egypt Revolution, with the Eagle of Saladin in the center and symbolic three stars representing the 3 Abrahamic religions]]
Following the Revolution of 1952, the Egyptian free officers retained the flag of the Kingdom, but also introduced the Revolutionary and Liberation flag of red, white, and black horizontal bands, with the emblem of the Revolution, the Eagle of Saladin, in the center band. This earlier version of the eagle differs somewhat from the one later adopted. Even when the Kingdom was formally abolished by the declaration of the Republic on July 18, 1953, the flag of the Kingdom remained in official use, until Gamal Abdel Nasser announced the formation of a new regional political union and changed the name to United Arab Republic in 1958. The new flag symbolised a break from the Ottoman-inspired flags of the monarchical period, placing emphasis on the Arab nationalism then espoused by the Nasser government.
United Arab Republic – Egyptian-Syrian Union under President Gamal Abdel Nasser (1958–1972)
right|thumb| flag of the [[United Arab Republic (1958–1971) – though Syria withdrew from the union in 1961, Egypt retained the official name until 1971]]
In 1958, Syria united with Egypt to form the United Arab Republic (UAR) and adopted a national flag based on the original Egyptian Liberation flag after the revolution, but with two green stars (representing the two countries of the union) replacing the former Egyptian Eagle in the white band. A modified version of that eagle was then adopted as the UAR's coat of arms. The flag with the 2 green stars, representing the two constituent nations was used as the national flag of Syria until the ousting of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. It was briefly used by the Yemen Arab Republic for two months in 1962.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!30px<br>Colours scheme
! style="background:#ce1126; width:100px" | <span style="color:white;">Red</span>
! style="background:#FFFFFF; width:100px" | <span style="color:black;">White</span>
! style="background:#007a3d; width:100px" | <span style="color:white;">Green</span>
! style="background:#000000; width:100px" | <span style="color:white;">Black</span>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | RGB
| <code>206/17/38</code> || <code>255/255/255</code> || <code>0/122/61</code> || <code>0/0/0</code>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | Hexadecimal
| <code>#ce1126ff</code> || <code>#FFFFFF</code> || <code>#007a3dff</code> || <code>#000000ff</code>
|-
| style="text-align:right" |CMYK
| <code>0/92/82/19</code> || <code>0/0/0/0</code> || <code>100/0/50/52</code> || <code>0/0/0/100</code>
|}
Federation of Arab Republics (1972–1984) – A regional union attempt by Muammar Gaddafi
right|thumb| Flag of the [[Federation of Arab Republics (1972–1984)]]
Though Syria withdrew from the UAR in 1961, Egypt continued to use the official name of the United Arab Republic until 1971, when the country was renamed officially as the Arab Republic of Egypt. In 1972, when Egypt formed the Federation of Arab Republics along with Syria, and Libya, the UAR's flag (whose design Syria would reuse for their own flag, eight years later) was replaced by a common flag for the Federation, once again based on the Arab Liberation Flag. The two green stars in the white band were replaced by the Hawk of Qureish, which had been the coat of arms of Syria prior to the formation of the UAR in 1958. The Hawk of Qureish was also adopted as the Federation's coat of arms.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
!30px<br>Colours scheme
! style="background:#ce1126; width:100px" | <span style="color:white;">Red</span>
! style="background:#FFFFFF; width:100px" | <span style="color:black;">White</span>
! style="background:#000000; width:100px" | <span style="color:white;">Black</span>
! style="background:#efbb22; width:100px" | <span style="color:white;">Gold</span>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | RGB
| <code>206/17/38</code> || <code>255/255/255</code> || <code>0/0/0</code> || <code>239/187/34</code>
|-
| style="text-align:right" | Hexadecimal
| <code>#ce1126</code> || <code>#FFFFFF</code> || <code>#000000</code> || <code>#efbb22</code>
|-
| style="text-align:right" |CMYK
| <code>0/92/82/19</code> || <code>0/0/0/0</code> || <code>0/0/0/100</code> || <code>0/22/86/6</code>
|}
Arab Republic of Egypt (1984–present)
right|thumb| Flag of the Arab Republic of Egypt (1984–present)
While the Federation of Arab Republics was dissolved in 1977, Egypt retained the Federation's flag until October 4, 1984, when the gold Hawk of Qureish was replaced in the white band (and on the coat of arms) by the Eagle of Saladin (the 1958 version as opposed to the 1952 version). The shield held by the eagle is colored entirely gold and white, as opposed to the colors seen on the shield on Egypt's coat of arms.
Rules governing the hoisting of the flag
The flag is hoisted on all Egyptian governmental buildings on Fridays, national holidays, the opening session of the House of Representatives, and any other occasions as determined by the Minister of the Interior. The flag is hoisted daily on border posts, customs buildings, Egyptian consulates, and embassies overseas on Revolution Day (July 23), and other national holidays, as well as during the visit of the Egyptian President to the country hosting the diplomatic mission.
Abusing the flag in any way is a criminal offense and is punishable under law as it implies the contempt of the power of the state. Penal provisions also govern abuse of foreign flags or national emblems of other countries.
See also
- Coat of arms of Egypt
- Flags of the Egyptian Armed Forces
- List of Egyptian flags
- Pan-Arab colors
- Flag of Iraq
- Flag of Sudan
- Flag of the United Arab Emirates
- Flag of the United Arab Republic
- Flag of Yemen, based on Egyptian Republican flag