Flag of the United Arab Emirates
Locally al-Imārāt · الإمارات
What the flag looks like
A vertical red band at the hoist, with three equal horizontal stripes of green, white and black filling the rest of the flag.
What it means
The Pan-Arab colors are commonly said to stand for fertility (green), peace and neutrality (white), strength (black) and unity and courage (red).
How to remember it
The UAE
is the Pan-Arab tricolor with a vertical red bar at the hoist, not a triangle (Jordan
, Palestine
, Sudan
) or a trapezoid (Kuwait
).
Fun facts
- The flag was designed in 1971 by Abdullah Mohammed Al Maainah, who was 19 at the time and won a public design competition.
- The UAE marks Flag Day every year on 3 November.
- The federation has seven emirates; Ras Al Khaimah joined in February 1972, a few weeks after the other six.
United Arab Emirates at a glance
- Capital
- Abu Dhabi
- Region
- Western Asia
- Population
- 11 million
- Area
- 83,600 km²
- Languages
- Arabic
- Currency
- United Arab Emirates dirham (د.إ)
- Flag adopted
- 1971
Flags often confused with the United Arab Emirates
- Kuwait: 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: The UAE and Jordan both use red, green, white and black. The UAE has a red vertical band with green on top; Jordan has a red triangle with a white star and black on top.
- Palestine: The UAE and Palestine both use red, green, white and black. Palestine has a red triangle with black on top; the UAE has a straight red vertical band with green on top.
- Sudan: The UAE and Sudan both use red, green, white and black. Sudan has a green triangle with red on top; the UAE has a straight red vertical band with green on top.