Saudi Flag: Centuries-Long Emblem of National Unity

Saudi Flag Day, which is observed on March 11 as decreed by King Salman bin Abdulaziz, commemorates the adoption of the Saudi flag, finalized in 1937 by King Abdulaziz’s endorsement of the Shura Council’s decision.
For over three centuries, the green flag has symbolized Saudi national identity, resonating with meanings and uniqueness for Saudis.
Asharq Al-Awsat seized the opportunity to interview researcher Adnan bin Saleh Al-Turaif, who has extensively studied Saudi Arabia’s history and cultural legacy across its three stages.
Turaif shared his remarkable collection of over a hundred flags, including the original flag of the first Saudi state and those representing subsequent stages. He also discussed the significance of Saudi Flag Day, and provided insights into the Saudi flag's 300-year history.
The researcher generously shared flags, documents, photos, and speeches for the first time, and authored a comprehensive book detailing the Saudi flag’s evolution.
Turaif noted that the flag settled into its current form during King Abdulaziz’s reign.
Historical sources describe the original flag as green, intricately woven with the Arabic inscription “There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah,” tied to a simple pole.
This design persisted through the reigns of the first founder, Imam Muhammad bin Saud, his son Imam Abdulaziz bin Muhammad, the conqueror Imam Saud bin Abdulaziz (known as “Saud the Great”), and his son, Imam Abdullah bin Saud.
During the British-French conflict, Domingo Badia, a Spanish explorer later revealed to be a spy, pretended to be a Muslim named Ali Bey el Abbassi and wanted to gather information about Saudi Arabia.
He arrived in Makkah in January 1807 from Morocco through North Africa and witnessed Imam Saud’s army entering Makkah.
Badia, under his alias, noted 45,000 of Saud’s followers, dressed in pilgrimage attire, carrying a green flag with “There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” written in large white Arabic letters.
The first Saudi flag was raised in 1727 by Imam Muhammad bin Saud, who ruled for 40 years. He or his sons would carry the flag.
According to historian Ibn Bishr, during the reign of Imam Abdulaziz bin Muhammad and his son Imam Saud, messengers were sent to tribal leaders to gather on a specific day and place marked by a water source, where the flag would be raised.
Ibn Bishr also noted that Imam Saud was successful in battles without ever having his flag defeated.
Similarly, when discussing Imam Turki bin Abdullah, founder of the second Saudi state, Ibn Bishr mentioned that before raids, he would instruct regional princes and tribal leaders to gather on a specified day and location.
The flag would be raised near the palace gate a day or two before departure, with Imam Turki or his son Faisal overseeing its procession.
According to Al-Turaif, King Abdulaziz initially used the same flag as the first and second Saudi states but later made changes to it.
In 1925, King Abdulaziz ordered a new flag design. In 1937, the Shura Council set the flag dimensions to be 150 by 100 centimeters. That year, flags were also designated for the King, Crown Prince, Army, Aviation, Interior, Royal Saudi Navy, and Commercial Navy.
In 1952, the Shura Council adjusted flag dimensions. In 1973, the Council of Ministers approved the flag system.
In 1991, under King Fahd’s reign, the flag was specified to be green, with width two-thirds of its length, featuring the phrase “There is no god but Allah, Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” and a sword underneath.
Regarding who designed the current Saudi flag, Al-Turaif explained : “There's a lot of misinformation out there. The design has evolved since the early days of the state. The Shura Council updated it to its current form, which was approved by King Abdulaziz.”
“There’s been speculation that the early flags of Najd or the Kingdom had a crescent, but that's not true. There’s no historical evidence linking the crescent to any Saudi flag,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat.
According to Al-Turaif, the current flag symbolizes guidance, justice, strength, growth, and prosperity. The central declaration of faith represents peace and Islam, the foundation of the state. The sword stands for strength, unity, wisdom, stature, security, and safety.
He also noted that the green color represents Islam and signifies peace, generosity, tolerance, and water, while the white color symbolizes the purity of Saudi Arabia.
Carriers of the Flag Over Time
Throughout Saudi Arabia’s history, various individuals have carried the flag.
In the first state, it was Ibrahim bin Tawq and Abdullah Abu Nahih. In the second state, it was Hamidi bin Salama, Saleh bin Hudayyan, and Ibrahim Al-Zafiri.
With King Abdulaziz, Abdul Latif Al-Maashouq was the first to carry the flag in the Battle of Riyadh in 1902. He was followed by his son Mansour Al-Maashouq. After them, Abdul Rahman bin Matraf and his sons took over the flag’s duty. Today, the Al-Matraf family still carries the flag, though many others have proudly borne the Saudi flag in different battles and places.
A Unique Flag Protocol
Al-Turaif has always said that the Saudi flag is a unique case.
“It’s special because it’s never lowered to half-mast during mourning or crises,” he explained, adding that the Saudi flag is also not used for advertising and should never touch the ground or water.
“There are strict rules against sitting on it or taking it to impure places. It doesn't bow to guests during ceremonial events. Penalties are in place for breaking flag rules,” added Al-Tarif.
Embroidering the Flag
When it comes to crafting and writing on the Saudi flag, Al-Turaif mentions that historically, this task was entrusted to individuals from notable families in Riyadh.
In modern times, Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Shahin and Saad bin Saeed took on this responsibility.
While Saeed managed flag supplies, the actual sewing wasn’t done by him. Documents indicate that King Abdulaziz assigned Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al-Tabishi to procure some flag necessities.
Additionally, flags were made using fabric-on-fabric techniques in various countries during King Abdulaziz’s reign, including the United States, Pakistan, and some Arab countries.
The First Flag Calligrapher
Regarding the first calligrapher for the Saudi flag during King Abdulaziz’s reign, Al-Turaif reveals that after extensive research, it was discovered that Sheikh Omar Asem Al-Hasani from Al-Jumum in Wadi Fatimah, Makkah, was among the earliest calligraphers.
He migrated to Kuwait, where he worked as a teacher and later became a school director. He previously designed Kuwait’s old flag and was asked to calligraph the Saudi flag during King Abdulaziz’s reign around 1911.
In 1926, King Abdulaziz inaugurated the Kiswa Factory of the Holy Kaaba, and one of the first workers was calligrapher Abdul Rahim Amin Abdullah Bukhari.
He was tasked with calligraphing the Kaaba's cover and inscriptions, and was also asked to calligraph the Saudi flag at that time using the Arabic Thuluth script.
It’s important to note that flags displayed at events attended by King Abdulaziz sometimes differed from the official Thuluth script, as they were often produced by non-Arab calligraphers or factories abroad.

The news came by video. Law professor Ali Mourad discovered that Israel had dynamited his family's south Lebanon home only after footage of the operation was sent to his phone.

"A friend from the village sent me the video, telling me to make sure my dad doesn't see it," Mourad, 43, told AFP.

"But when he got the news, he stayed strong."

Mourad's home in Aitroun village, less than a kilometre from the border, is seen crumpling in a cloud of grey dust.

His father, an 83-year-old paediatrician, had his medical practice in the building. He had lived there with his family since shortly after Israel's 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon ended in 2000.

The family fled the region again after the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted on September 23 after a year of cross-border fire that began with the Gaza war.

South Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, has since been pummelled by Israeli strikes.

Hezbollah says it is battling Israeli forces at close range in border villages after a ground invasion began last month.

For the first 20 years of his life, Mourad could not step foot in Aitroun because of the Israeli occupation.

He wants his two children to have "a connection to their land", but fears the war could upend any remaining ties.

"I fear my children will be orphaned of their land, as I was in the past," he said.

"Returning is my right, a duty in my ancestors' memory, and for the future of my children."

- 'Die a second time' -

According to Lebanon's official National News Agency, Israeli troops dynamited buildings in at least seven border villages last month.

Israel's Channel 12 broadcast footage appearing to show one of its presenters blow up a building while embedded with soldiers in the village of Aita al-Shaab.

On October 26, the NNA said Israel "blew up and destroyed houses... in the village of Odaisseh".

That day, Israel's military said 400 tonnes of explosives detonated in a Hezbollah tunnel, which it said was more than 1.5 kilometres (around a mile) long.

It is in Odaisseh that Lubnan Baalbaki fears he may have lost the mausoleum where his mother and father, the late painter Abdel-Hamid Baalbaki, are buried.

Their tomb is in the garden of their home, which was levelled in the blasts.

Baalbaki, 43, bought satellite images to keep an eye on the house which had been designed by his father, in polished white stone and clay tiles.

But videos circulating online later showed it had been blown up.

Lubnan has not yet found out whether the mausoleum was also damaged, adding that this was his "greatest fear".

It would be like his parents "dying for a second time", he said.

His Odaisseh home had a 2,000-book library and around 20 original artworks, including paintings by his father, he said.

His father had spent his life savings from his job as a university professor to build the home.

The family had preserved "his desk, his palettes, his brushes, just as he left them before he died", Baalbaki told AFP.

A painting he had been working on was still on an easel.

Losing the house filled him with "so much sadness" because "it was a project we'd grown up with since childhood that greatly influenced us, pushing us to embrace art and the love of beauty".

- 'War crime' -

Lebanon's National Human Rights Commission has said "the ongoing destruction campaign carried out by the Israeli army in southern Lebanon is a war crime".

Between October 2023 and October 2024, locations "were wantonly and systematically destroyed in at least eight Lebanese villages", it said, basing its findings on satellite images and videos shared on social media by Israeli soldiers.

Israel's military used "air strikes, bulldozers, and manually controlled explosions" to level entire neighbourhoods -- homes, schools, mosques, churches, shrines, and archaeological sites, the commission said.

Lebanese rights group Legal Agenda said blasts in Mhaibib "destroyed the bulk" of the hilltop village, "including at least 92 buildings of civilian homes and facilities".

"You can't blow up an entire village because you have a military target," said Hussein Chaabane, an investigative journalist with the group.

International law "prohibits attacking civilian objects", he said.

Should civilian objects be targeted, "the principle of proportionality should be respected, and here it is being violated".

Saudi Flag: Centuries-Long Emblem of National Unity