Why Do All Arab Countries Have Similar Flags?

▶ In this video I talk about Arab flags and explain why they look so similar. First going through the historical context of the colours and how they relate / have their origin in the historical banners of islamic caliphates. Then learning about the first time the colours were used together in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1916. Then being recovered in 1952 with the Arab Revolt in Egypt. With both of these revolutionary flags serving as the origin for many of the flags in the Middle-East and North-Africa today; such as those of Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, the UAE, Libya, Sudan and even unrecognized states such as Somaliland and El Sahrawi.

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[joaopedrooliveiradasilva]

Just a small correction: in the minute 10:47, that displayed flag is Kuwait's, not UAE's

[nenenindonu]

>Be a British advisor
>Design a Pan-Arab flag
>Ultimately divide all Arab nations
>Refuses to elaborate further

[mangalamasthana]

9:53 the flag is the flag of Kuwait not the flag of UAE

[aintthatmoee]

I'm Egyptian and growing up, they used to tell us in school that red represented the blood of the martyrs of different periods, black represented the dark periods of colonialism, white represented peace, and the eagle represented our ability to fly through all of these periods and overcome all of those challenges.
So, in my opinion, I think since we - the arab countries - were mostly occupied by the same empires -french and English - we happen to have the same colors for the same story.

[daveanderson]

That was actually really interesting. By the way, I'd love to see a video dealing with the pan-slavic flags. Well done on this video

[youseffarawila]

Interesting! But I was told a different story growing up: the colors are the seas dominating the geography of the Arabic speaking lands. The RED sea, the BLACK sea, and the WHITE sea (that is how we call the Mediterranean Sea). The GREEN is the hope for prosperity when the west leaves us alone at peace.

[cfoc]

This is, without a shadow of a doubt, the second best Portuguese channel on YouTube! Love every video. Keep it up, ou como se diz em Portugal, quipirãpe! :)

[maozella]

Very interesting & informative video which required a lot of research. Enjoyable! Thanks for your efforts!

[tomstieve]

That was actually a very interesting video. I've subconsciously always seen these patterns in the flags, but never really thought about it. It's fascinating to see how Pan-Arabism was symbolically expressed in the three colors (red, black, and white), and how they were the colors of the former empires. All those Pan-Arab colors of the Arab nation-states today originated in the flag used in the Arab Revolt of 1916. It's also interesting how some Arab Muslim monarchies today use green to demonstrate how they rule by divine will. Red, furthermore was used by Arab monarchies of the time of the Ottomans, showing their legitimacy by associating their states with the Ottoman monarchial color of red. Well-done video lessons. Thanks!

[hettfield]

A video on the Bolivar flags of South America would be great 🇨🇴🇪🇨🇻🇪

[MYInteriorArchitect]

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْتَ الْأوََّلُ فَلَيْسَ قَبْلَكَ شَيْءٌ، وَأَنْتَ الْآخِرُ فَلَيْسَ بَعْدَكَ شَيْءٌ، وَأَنْتَ الظَّاهِرُ فَلَيْسَ فَوْقَكَ شَيْءٌ، وَأَنْتَ الْبَاطِنُ فَلَيْسَ دُونَكَ شَيْءٌ، اقْضِ عَنَّا الدَّيْنَ وَأَغْنِنَا مِنَ الْفَقْرِ

For the curious people out there, take a look at the flags of Andalucía and Extremadura, in Southern Spain, and you'll clearly see these color patterns as well. This is no coincidence, as these are the regions that were influenced the most by the presence of islam and the caliphate thru the first and half of the second millennium AD. I am unaware of whether this is also the case of Portugal's Southern most provinces, but I would expect something similar.

[Jamming_Jimmy]

meanwhile the German Empire flag be like: but I'm not arab

[sarmadka]

I am Iraqi and I've only heard of the second explanation, which is relating the colors to the poem of Safi al-Din al-Hilli. I've never heard of the explanation relating it to previous Caliphates. Also, the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire and the regimes that resulted from it are mostly nationalistic/secularist so it wouldn't make sense to relate their flags to a governance system they had chosen to abandon.

[pritsie]

This has been very informative. Now i understand more of all these conflicts

[Terra-YT]

Wow General Knowledge this might be my favourite video of yours yet. You're a total inspiration and actually because of seeing your success I've decided to start making videos too! Keep grinding, your hard work clearly pays off!

[OdysseyTag]

Awesome video. Have you done a video on the Pan-African Rastafari colours used on the flags on many central and west African countries?

[coppermike]

Well done!! Yes!! I'd love to see the Slavic tricolor explanation!!

[nenenindonu]

Qatar & Bahrain : And I took that personally

[محمديونس-]

9:51 it's the flag of Kuwait 🇰🇼 not UAE🇦🇪