Flag of the Maldives

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The flag of the Republic of Maldives is red with a large green rectangle in the center bearing a vertical white crescent; the closed side of the crescent is on the hoist side of the flag.

It is the official and most commonly used symbol of the Maldives and was adopted on July 25, 1965.

[edit] History

The very first Maldivian flag was predominantly red in color and was used by the Sultans until the beginning of the 20th Century. It had a practical design to augment visibility when set against the blue background of the seas. It featured a black and white hoist called the Dhandimathi (Dhivehi: ދަނޑިމަތި) which was an extension of the flagpole. This was presumably because old flagpoles were painted white with a black strip spiralling upwards. This historic flag has been mistakenly associated with the idea of communism, however since the flag predates communism this assumption is not generally accepted.

As a result of the Ottoman Empire's successful campaigns to promote the crescent as an Islamic symbol (which was in fact an ancient symbol of their great city of Constantinople) throughout the 19th Century, Prime Minister Amir Abdul Majid Didi inserted the crescent with its horns pointing towards the hoist, on a newly introduced green rectangle centered inside the original flag. This erroneous version (compared to byzantine standards) lasted until 1947 when it was corrected and the new flag with the crescent towards the fly was introduced.

When Mohamed Jameel wrote the lyrics for the National Anthem in 1948, he had overlooked to acknowledge the color black in the flag perhaps because people had started to see it as an anomaly rather than an integral part. Thus the hoist was removed and the new flag which we see today adopted on July 25, 1965. In the same year Muhammad Fareed Didi adopted a five-point star (located between the horns of the crescent) to exclusively represent the Sultan. This flag is still used today by the President as his ensign.

[edit] Symbolism

The red color in the outermost rectangle represents the boldness of the nation's heroes, in the past, future and present, who were not (and will bot be) hesitant to sacrifice up to his very last drop of blood defending their nation. The green rectangle in the center represents the innumerable amount of coconut palm trees in the islands, a historic life source still used for various purposes today. And the white crescent moon symbolizes a state of unified Islamic faith.

[edit] Gallery

Historic flag used until 1903

Flag with inverse crescent, used until 1949

Last flag with the black and white hoist, used until 1965

Sultan's Ensign with star, first used in 1965

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