The Arabian Peninsula, also known as just Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, considered
a subcontinent of Asia.
It is the biggest peninsula in the world and it is famous for its… sand, sand… sand
and of course camels!
And well maybe oil as well Arabia is made up of quite a few countries
including Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates
as well as parts of southern Iraq and Jordan – which feature in other videos.
The flag of Kuwait was adopted in 1961.
Before 1961, the flag of Kuwait was red and white, like those of other Persian Gulf states
at the time.
The present flag is in the Pan-Arab colours, but each colour is also significant in its
own right.
The colours' meaning came from a poem (by Safie Al-Deen Al-Hali) which says:
White are our deeds Black are our battles
Green are our lands Red are our swords
The flag of Qatar is is maroon with a broad white band with nine white points on the hoist
side.
It was adopted shortly before the country's declaration of independence from Britain in
September 1971.
The flag is very like the flag of the neighbouring country Bahrain, which has fewer points, and
a red colour instead of maroon.
Qatar's flag is the only national flag having a width more than twice its height
The national flag of Bahrain consists of a white band on the left, separated from a red
area on the right by five triangles that serve as a serrated line.
The five white triangles symbolize the 5 pillars of Islam, and the red side is said to symbolizes
the Khawarij sect of Islam.
The flag originally had twenty-eight white points, but this was reduced to eight in 1972.
2002, the number was again reduced to five, so that each of the points could stand for
one of the Five Pillars of Islam The flag of the United Arab Emirates was adopted
in 1971.
It contains the Pan-Arab colors red, green, white, and black, which symbolize Arabian
unity.
Merchant ships may fly the alternative civil ensign, a red flag with the national flag
in the canton.
Each of the seven emirates within the United Arab Emirates has its own flag, except for
one (Fujairah), which uses the federal flag as state flag too.
The flags are derived from the red flags traditionally used by the different Arab emirates around
the Persian Gulf.
Under the protection of the British Empire from 1820, it was decided to add a white field
at the hoist of the flag.
The same basic pattern can be seen in the flag of Bahrain and the flag of Qatar, emirates
who decided not to join the UAE when it was created in the 1970s.
The Flag of Yemen was adopted in 1990, the day that North Yemen and South Yemen were
unified.
The flag is essentially the Arab Liberation Flag of 1952, introduced after the Egyptian
Revolution of 1952 in which Arab nationalism was a dominant theme.
According to the official description, the red stands for the bloodshed of martyrs and
unity; the white for a bright future; black for the dark past.
The national flag of Oman consists of three stripes of white, green and red with a red
bar on the left that contains the national emblem of Oman a Dagger and two swords.
Until 1975, Oman used the plain red banner of the indigenous people.
In 1970, the Sultan introduced a complete new set of national flags.
Bands of green and white were added to the fly, and the national emblem was placed in
the canton.
Green is traditionally associated with the "Green Mountains," which lie toward the north
of the country.
Red is a common colour in Gulf state flags.
The flag of Saudi Arabia is the flag used by the government of Saudi Arabia since 1973.
It is a green flag featuring in white an Arabic inscription and a sword.
The inscription is the Islamic creed.
“There is no god but God: Muhammad is the Messenger of God”
The green of the flag represents Islam and the sword stands for the strictness in applying
justice.
The flag is manufactured with identical back and front sides, to ensure the creed reads
correctly, from either side.
The sword points to the left on both sides, in the direction of the script.
Because the shahada is considered holy, the flag is not normally used on T-shirts or other
items.
Saudi Arabia protested against its inclusion on a planned football to be issued by FIFA,
in 2002 FIFA World Cup.
Saudi officials said that kicking the creed with the foot was completely unacceptable.
The flag is never lowered to half-mast as a sign of mourning, because lowering it would
be considered blasphemous.
Interestingly, the flag Iran is also never flown at half-mast.