Flag of Kuwait
Officially State of Kuwait
Locally al-Kuwayt · الكويت
What the flag looks like
Three equal horizontal stripes of green, white and red, with a black trapezoid at the hoist whose shorter side faces the fly.
What it means
The colors come from a poem by Safi al-Din al-Hilli: white for good deeds, black for battles, green for fertile land and red for the blood on swords.
How to remember it
Kuwait's
hoist is a black trapezoid, a triangle with its tip cut off; Jordan
and Palestine
have red triangles and the UAE
a red bar.
Fun facts
- The flag was first raised on 24 November 1961, a few months after independence from Britain.
- The Kuwaiti dinar is the highest-valued currency unit in the world.
Kuwait at a glance
- Capital
- Kuwait City
- Region
- Western Asia
- Population
- 4.9 million
- Area
- 17,818 km²
- Languages
- Arabic
- Currency
- Kuwaiti dinar (د.ك)
- Flag adopted
- 1961
Flags often confused with Kuwait
- United Arab Emirates: The UAE and Kuwait both have green, white and a fourth color beside a hoist shape. The UAE has a red rectangle and black bottom stripe; Kuwait has a black trapezoid and red bottom stripe.
- Jordan: Jordan and Kuwait both use black, white, green and red. Jordan has black on top with a red triangle holding a white star; Kuwait has green on top with a black trapezoid at the hoist.
- Palestine: Kuwait and Palestine both have three stripes with a shape at the hoist. Kuwait is green on top with a black trapezoid; Palestine is black on top with a red triangle.
- Sudan: Kuwait and Sudan both use green, white, red and black. Kuwait has green on top and a black trapezoid at the hoist; Sudan has red on top and a green triangle at the hoist.