Flag of the Arab Revolt

What the flag looks like

Three equal horizontal stripes of black, green and white, with a red triangle at the hoist.

What it means

The stripes are said to recall the Abbasid (black), Fatimid (green) and Umayyad (white) caliphates, and the red the Hashemite family that led the revolt.

How to remember it

The Arab Revolt flag runs black, green, white with a red triangle; Palestine swaps the green and white, and Jordan does the same and adds a white star.

Fun facts

• Its colors became the pan-Arab colors, used today in the flags of Jordan, Palestine, Sudan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
• The design is usually credited to the British diplomat Sir Mark Sykes.

Arab Revolt at a glance

Existed

1916–1918

Led by

Sharif Hussein bin Ali

Legacy

The pan-Arab colors

Capital

Mecca

Region

1916–1918

Languages

Arabic

Flag adopted

1916

Flags often confused with the Arab Revolt

• Palestine: The Arab Revolt flag and Palestine both have black, green and white stripes with a red triangle at the hoist. The Arab Revolt runs black, green, white; Palestine runs black, white, green.
• Jordan: The Arab Revolt flag and Jordan both have black, green and white stripes with a red triangle at the hoist. Jordan runs black, white, green and has a white star in the triangle; the Arab Revolt runs black, green, white with no star.
• Sudan: The Arab Revolt flag and Sudan both use black, green, white and red. Sudan has red on top, then white and black, with a green triangle; the Arab Revolt has black, green and white with a red triangle.