The flag of Qatar (Arabic: علم قطر) has a proportion of 11:28. It is Purple with a broad white serrated band (nine white points) on the hoist side.
The meaning of Qatar’s flag is:
- The white color reflects the internationally recognized symbol of peace.
- The Maroon color symbolizes the blood shed during the several wars Qatar had undergone, particularly in the second half of the 19th century.
- The nine-point serrated line indicates that Qatar is the 9th member of the "reconciled Emirates" of the Persian Gulf in the wake of concluding the Qatari-British treaty in 1916.
The flag was officially adopted on July 9, 1971, although a nearly identical flag (only differing in proportion) had been used since 1949. It is very similar to the flag of the neighbouring country of Bahrain, which has fewer points, a 3:5 proportion, and a red colour instead of purple. A common explanation of the differences between the two, is simply to distinguish them.1 A popular but fanciful tale referring to the purple color and the similarity to the red Bahrain flag, is that Purple is what becomes of red fading in the Gulf sun. 2. The legend goes that Qatar's flag used to be red, and that a new type of dye was used for the original flags. However after being left in the sun, the colour changed to purple, which was then regarded to be a more beautiful colour (by coincidence). That is also why this specific shade of purple is called "Qatar Red".
References
- ^ "Flag of Qatar". Retrieved on 2007-10-08.
- ^ "Flag of Qatar". Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
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