Flag of Libya
Proportion | 1:2 |
---|---|
Adopted | 24 December 1951 3 August 2011 (re-adoption) |
Relinquished | 1 September 1969 |
Design | A horizontal triband of red, black (double width) and green; charged with a white crescent and five-pointed star centred on the black stripe. |
Designed by | Omar Faiek Shennib |
Use | Naval ensign |
Design | A cerulean ensign with the Libyan Flag in the canton, and a white anchor in the fly side. |
The
The flag was abolished following the fall of the Kingdom in 1969, and the dictator
The flag consists of a triband red-black-green design, the central black band being twice the width of the outer bands. A white star and crescent[1] is located in the center of the flag.
History
The first Libyan flag design was based on the banner of the
This flag represented Libya from its independence in 1951 until the
In 2011, interviews with Ibtisam Shennib and Amal Omar Shennib, Omar Faeik Shennib's only two remaining children, were cited as confirming Pelt's account of the origin of the flag.[4] Ibtisam Shennib recalled the morning her father brought a draft of the flag to the breakfast table and showed it to her and her siblings, explaining the original intent behind the selection of the flag's colours and symbols. According to Omar Faiek Shennib, "red was selected for the blood sacrificed for the freedom of Libya, black to remember the dark days that Libyans lived under the
Under Muammar Gaddafi's dictatorship, Libya had a red-white-black flag from 1969 to 1977, and it was replaced by the all-green flag from 1977 to 2011, during which it was the only flag in the world to have one color and no design.
During the
The National Transitional Council, formed on 27 February 2011, adopted the flag previously used in the Kingdom of Libya between 1951 and 1969 as the "emblem of the Libyan Republic".[8][9] The flag was officially defined in article three of the Libyan Draft Constitutional Charter for the Transitional Stage:The national flag shall have the following shape and dimensions:
Its length shall be double its width, its shall be divided into three parallel coloured stripes, the uppermost being red, the centre black and lowest green, the black stripe shall be equal in area to the other two stripes together and shall bear in its centre a white crescent, between the two extremities of which there shall be a five-pointed white star.
On 10 March 2011, France was the first country to recognise the council as the official government of Libya, as well as the first to allow the Libyan embassy staff to raise the flag.[10] On 21 March, the flag was flown by the Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations and appeared on their official website,[11][12] and thereafter in late August by the Arab League[13] and by Libya's own telecommunications authority,[14] the Libya Telecom & Technology, on its own website. In the following months many other Libyan embassies replaced the green flag of Gaddafi with the tricolour flag.
This original flag of Libya is now the only flag used by the United Nations to represent Libya, according to the following UN statement:
"Following the adoption by the General Assembly of resolution 66/1, the Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations formally notified the United Nations of a Declaration by the National Transitional Council of 3 August 2011 changing the official name of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to 'Libya' as well as a decision to change Libya's national flag to the original."
Legal basis and construction
The flag of Libya is described in Article 7 of the Constitution of 7 October 1951. It was officially adopted on 24 December 1951. The passage from the constitution reads:
Chapter 1, Article 7: The national flag shall have the following dimensions: Its length shall be twice its breadth, it shall be divided into three parallel coloured stripes, the uppermost being red, the centre black and the lowest green, the black stripe shall be equal in area to the two other stripes combined and shall bear in its centre a white crescent, between the two extremities of which there shall be a five-pointed white star.
Both the precise shade and legal construction is described in a booklet issued by the Ministry of Information and Guidance of the Kingdom of Libya in 1951.[16] The passage reads:
The exact particulars of the Libyan National Flag prescribed by Article 7 of the Constitution shall be as follows: The red shall be sign red, and the green permanent green. The Crescent shall be on the hoistward side of the star, and the centre of the circle of which the crescent forms a part shall be in the centre of the flag. The star shall be in the open end of the crescent and one point of the star shall point to the centre of the circle. The maximum width of the 270 crescent shall equal 1⁄6 of its outside diameter which is 1⁄4 of the width of the flag. The distance between the tips of the crescent shall equal that between the uppermost and lowermost point of the star measured along a perpendicular forming the hoistward sides of these two points. The perpendicular shall form a tangent to the outside circumference of the crescent at a point equidistant from the top and bottom of the flag.
Colours scheme
Red | White | Green | Black | |
---|---|---|---|---|
RGB | 231/0/19 |
255/255/255 |
35/158/70 |
0/0/0
|
Hexadecimal | #e70013 |
#FFFFFF |
#239e46 |
#000000
|
CMYK | 0/100/92/9 |
0/0/0/0 |
78/0/56/38 |
0/0/0/100
|
Other flags
-
Libyan Air Defense Forces
-
Libyan National Army (Variant)[citation needed]
Historical flags
Flag | Years of use | Government | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1864–1911 | Ottoman Tripolitania | The vilayet of Tripolitania (the "Kingdom of Tripoli") included much of the same territory as modern Libya.
| |
1911–1947 | Italian Libya | After the Italo-Turkish War (1911-1912), Italy established the two colonies of Italian Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, which merged into Italian Libya in 1934. They all used the flag of Italy. | |
1947–1951 | British Military Administration | The areas of Libya under Union flag of the United Kingdom.
| |
1947–1951 | Military Territory of Fezzan-Ghadames
|
During the French Administration of the former Fezzan-Ghadames, did not have their own flag and thus used the flag of France .
| |
1949–1951 | Cyrenaica Emirate | During Cyrenaica Emirate was declared in British-occupied Cyrenaica in 1949 with the backing of the British authorities. The "Emir of Cyrenaica", Idris of Libya, kept the emirate's flag which derives from the flag of Turkey (a white crescent and star on a black background) as his personal flag after he became king of Libya in 1951.
| |
1951–1969 | Kingdom of Libya | Originally called the United Kingdom of Libya, it came into existence upon independence on 24 December 1951 and lasted until a coup d'état led by Muammar Gaddafi on 1 September 1969 overthrew King Idris . Its flag was a triband of red, black and green with a crescent moon and star.
| |
1969–1972 | Libyan Arab Republic
|
Following the ). | |
(1974) | Arab Islamic Republic | A failed attempt in 1974 by Muammar Gaddafi to merge the Libyan Arab Republic with Tunisia planned to use this flag. | |
1972–1977 | Federation of Arab Republics | In 1972 when Libya joined the Federation of Arab Republics its flag was adopted by the country, linking it to Egypt and Syria. It featured a golden hawk (the "Hawk of Quraish"), holding a scroll with the Arabic name of the Federation. The flags of Libya from 1951 to 1972 and since 1977 uses the 2:1 ratio, the 1972–1977 flag is the only Libyan flag that uses the 3:2 ratio for the first time. | |
1972–1977 | Federation of Arab Republics | Naval ensign of Libya | |
1977–2011 | Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
|
Green Book).[18] The green colour traditionally symbolises Islam, reflecting the historical green banners of the Fatimid Caliphate. In Libya, green was also a colour traditionally used to represent the Tripolitania region. This flag continues to be used by Gaddafi loyalists . The flag had two versions, one with a wide ratio and another with a smaller ratio.
| |
1977–2011 | Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya | Naval ensign of Libya |
See also
- Coat of arms of Libya
- National Anthem of Libya
References
- ^ "Is the Crescent Moon a Symbol of Islam as Is Widely Believed?". Learn Religions. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
- ^ a b "National Flag of Libya". 24dec1951.com. 24 December 1951. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015.
- ^ cited after a copy kept by the library of Swiss Vexillological Society; c.f. Jos Poels at FOTW, 1997.
- ^ "For Amal, life (re)begins at 75 |". Feb17.info. 19 October 2011. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012.
- ^ .Libya's monarchist flag: a symbol of anti-Gathafi protest Archived 28 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Middle East Online. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ What's in a flag? – Libya. Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ Mark Tran (17 February 2011). "Bahrain in crisis and Middle East protests – live blog". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
- ^ National Transitional Council (Retrieved 13 March 2011) Ntclibya.org. Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Libya National Flag". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
- ^ "Libya: France recognises rebels as government". BBC News. 10 March 2011.
- ^ "Libya air raid 'killed civilians'". BBC News. 31 March 2011.
- ^ Libyan Mission New York Archived 26 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Libyanmission-un.org (5 March 2011). Retrieved 27 May 2011.
- ^ "Libya regains Arab League seat – Africa". Al Jazeera English.
- ^ "ليبيا للاتصالات و التقنية". Ltt.ly. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
- ^ "United Nations Information Service (Retrieved 19 December 2011)". Unis.unvienna.org. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- ^ [English translation based on The Libyan Flag & The National Anthem, a booklet issued by the Ministry of Information and Guidance of the Kingdom of Libya, cited after Jos Poels at FOTW, 27 January 1997]
- ^ "Libya Flag". Retrieved 12 December 2009. [verification needed]
- ^ "Staff of Libyan consulate in Egypt lower flag". Reuters. 22 February 2011. [verification needed]