The colors black, white, green, and red, when used on national flags, are referred to as the Pan-Arab colors. Much in the same way that the Pan-African colors (red, gold, and green) appear on a number of flags of African nations, Arab nations commonly use the Pan-Arab colors in designing their national flags. The Pan-Arab colors have their origin in the Flag of the Arab Revolt, which was designed in 1916 to provide a symbol for a political movement within the Ottoman Empire. In order to understand the significance of the Pan-Arab colors and the flags that use them, a little background is needed.

Background: The Ottoman Empire

During World War I, the Ottoman Empire participated alongside the Central Powers in conflict with the Allied Powers. The Allied Powers included the United States and England. At the time of the war, the Ottoman Empire was considerably smaller than it had been in previous centuries, but still encompassed much of what is now the Middle East and parts of Eastern Europe and North Africa. This made the Empire an important world power, and one of the world’s great powers at the time WWI began. However, not all of the citizens of the Ottoman Empire were happy with the situation, and, in the Middle East, Arab nationalism had been growing since at least the mid-1800s.

The Arab Revolt of 1916

Beginning in 1916, after World War I had been going on for two years, nationalists in the Middle East region began the Arab Revolt, intending to undermine Ottoman rule and create a single Arab nation independent from the Ottoman Empire. Because they were fighting against the Ottoman Turks, the Allied Powers were interested in encouraging the Arab Revolt in order to cause problems for the Ottoman Empire and weaken its ability to attend to the World War. It was with this goal in mind that Sir Mark Sykes, a British diplomat, designed the Flag of the Arab Revolt to encourage nationalist sentiments and keep the revolt going through symbolic patriotism.

Partitioning the Ottoman Empire READ MORE