Flag of Morocco
Flag of Morocco
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| Use |
National flag and state ensign  |
| Proportion |
2:3 |
| Adopted |
2 March 1956 (current version, original since 1666) |
| Design |
An interwoven green pentagram centered on a red field. |
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| Variant flag of Morocco |
| Use |
Civil ensign  |
| Proportion |
2:3 |
| Design |
With a yellow one-starred crown in the canton. |
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| Variant flag of Morocco |
| Use |
Naval ensign  |
| Proportion |
2:3 |
| Design |
With a yellow one-starred crown in each corner. |
The flag of Morocco ( Arabic: علم المغرب) is made of a red field with a black-bordered green interwoven star. Red has considerable historic significance in Morocco, proclaiming the descent of the royal family from the Prophet Muhammad via Fatima, the wife of Ali, the fourth Caliph. Red is also the color that was used by the Sherifs of Mecca and the Imams of Yemen. From the 17th century on, when Morocco was ruled by the Alaouite Dynasty, the flags of the country were plain red. In 1915, during the reign of Mulay Yusuf, the green Seal of Solomon was added to the national flag. The Seal is an interlaced pentangle, used as a symbol in occult law for centuries. While Morocco was under French and Spanish control, the red flag with the seal in the center remained in use- but only inland. Its use at sea was prohibited. When independence was restored in 1956, it once again became the national flag.
At the time of the rule of the Marinid and Saadi dynasties, the Moroccan flag used to be completely white. It was only around 1666, that the Alaouite Dynasty changed the flag color from white to deep red, which is the color symbol of the descendants of Prophet Muhammad. The red-only flag stayed the same until the beginning of the French protectorate.
Rachid Sbihi, Moroccan historian and numismatic specialist, says that the decision taken then was to keep the red-only flag as a symbol for the Royal Makhzen, while the national flag would bear a 6-pointed green star in its center. It would stay like this until the royal Dahir of 1915 changed the 6-pointed star to a 5-pointed star.
The 6-pointed star used in the Moroccan flag is also known as the Seal of Solomon (Sulaïman in Arabic) or the Star of David. However, it was not chosen to be on the Moroccan flag for that reason, since the 6-pointed star is a symbol of life, wisdom and good health common to all three major monotheistic religions. The Seal of Solomon was also stamped on the 100 and 200 francs coins as well as on some Makhzen stamps until 1954.
According to Rachid Sbihi, it seems that the change of stars was done by General Hubert Lyautey when getting ready to send Moroccan troops to fight during World War I. Rachid Sbihi points out that reasons why General Lyautey would do such a thing were neither clear nor valid. The Moroccan people however, were given another explanation that could be the right one: the new star was best adapted to the country's religion and faith since the 5 branches could symbolize the 5 pillars of Islam. The Moroccan flag is also used by Moorish-Americans of the Moorish Science Temple of America.
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Construction sheet
Wide and vertical presentations
The new flag however would only be displayed flush on the ground until Morocco's independence in 1956.
On May 08, 2010, a Moroccan flag with a size of 60,409.78 meters squared was certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest flag draped ever[1], its weight was 20 tones, and it was set in Dakhla, a city in the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
Historical flags
Oldest known flag of Morocco (11th-13th century)
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Flag of the Marinid (1215-1465) and Saadi dynasty (1554-1659)
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Before the addition of the green star (1666-1912)
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Flag of Rif Republic (1921-1926)
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Other flags
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Merchant flag of International zone of Tangier
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Flags of provinces
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Flag of Al Hoceima province
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Flag of Ben Slimane province
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Flag of Beni Mellal province
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Flag of Boujdour province
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Flag of Casablanca province
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Flag of Chefchaouen province
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Flag of El Jadida province
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Flag of El Kelaa des Srarhna province
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Flag of Er Rachidia province
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Flag of Essaouira province
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Flag of Khemisset province
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Flag of Khenifra province
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Flag of Khouribga province
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Flag of Laayoune province
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Flag of Marrakech province
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Flag of Ouarzazate province
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Flag of Rabat Sale province
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Flag of Sidi Kacem province
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Flag of Taounate province
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Flag of Taroudannt province
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References
External links
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Flags of the Arab States |
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| 1 Neither fully independent nor a recognized state. |
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Flags of Africa |
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Sovereign
states |
Algeria · Angola · Benin · Botswana · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cameroon · Cape Verde · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Republic of the Congo · Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) · Djibouti · Egypt · Equatorial Guinea · Eritrea · Ethiopia · Gabon · The Gambia · Ghana · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Kenya · Lesotho · Liberia · Libya · Madagascar · Malawi · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Morocco · Mozambique · Namibia · Niger · Nigeria · Rwanda · São Tomé and Príncipe · Senegal · Seychelles · Sierra Leone · Somalia · South Africa · Sudan · Swaziland · Tanzania · Togo · Tunisia · Uganda · Zambia · Zimbabwe
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States with limited
recognition |
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic · Somaliland
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Dependencies,
autonomies,
other territories |
Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla / Plazas de soberanía (Spain) · Madeira (Portugal) · Mayotte / Réunion (France) · Puntland (Somalia) · Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom) · Southern Sudan (Sudan) · Western Sahara · Zanzibar (Tanzania)
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