The Flag of Palestine (Arabic: علم فلسطين, transliterated: ʿAlam Filasṭīn) is the official Palestine national flag recognised by the State of Palestine and Palestinian institutions. The design combines three horizontal bands in black, white, and green with a red triangle at the hoist drawn from the pan‑Arab colour tradition. In its current legal form, the Palestine country flag serves as the primary emblem of Palestinian representation, uniting fixed proportions and colour standards with widely cited symbolic associations in national, diplomatic, and civic settings. This article outlines the flag of Palestine through its core features, public visibility, technical layout, main interpretations, historical development, etiquette, and practical relevance for visitors, including connectivity and on‑the‑ground navigation.
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Flag of Palestine: Key Takeaways
Status: The Palestine flag is the official national flag of the State of Palestine and of Palestinians across international and domestic representation.
Visibility: The Palestinian flag appears on public buildings, diplomatic missions, and official documents, and it is widely used at national and diaspora events.
Specification: The standard layout is a horizontal tricolour of black, white, and green stripes with a red hoist triangle in a 1:2 ratio.
Identification: The Palestine national flag is recognised by its four pan‑Arab colours and red triangle set against three equal horizontal bands.
Interpretation: The colours and the Palestinian flag triangle are commonly linked to historical Arab dynasties and, in many sources, to themes of heritage and struggle.
Public Presence of the Palestinian Flag
The Palestine flag appears throughout administrative centres, border zones, and major transit corridors where national symbols mark points of authority or jurisdiction. At government complexes, flagpoles near main entrances typically carry the flag of Palestine together with institutional flags and, when relevant, the flags of visiting states.
Municipal buildings such as city halls and governorate offices often place the Palestinian flag above primary doorways or on rooftop masts that face central squares and busy roundabouts. In larger cities, official signage at courthouses, police headquarters, and ministries may integrate the colours of the Palestine country flag into crests, wayfinding panels, or wall plaques.
Transport hubs that connect Ramallah, the capital of Palestine, to Hebron, Bethlehem, and Gaza‑facing crossings commonly display the Palestinian flag on fixed poles, painted gateways, or canopy edges close to platforms and security lanes. In some districts the flag is not flown permanently, and it is raised instead for national days, official ceremonies, or visiting delegations rather than as a constant daily feature.
Design and Layout of the Palestine Flag
The table below summarises the main construction details of the Palestine flag as reported in common vexillological references and construction sheets.
| Aspect | Specification |
| Orientation | Horizontal rectangular flag with hoist on the vertical edge |
| Colors | Black, white, green stripes and red hoist triangle |
| Digital colors | Red RGB 238,42,53 HEX EE2A35; Black RGB 0,0,0 HEX 000000; White RGB 255,255,255 HEX FFFFFF; Green RGB 0,151,54 HEX 009736 |
| Print colors | Red CMYK 0,82,77,6; Black CMYK 100,100,100,99; White CMYK 0,0,0,0; Green CMYK 100,0,64,40 |
| Color arrangement | Black stripe on top, white stripe in the middle, green stripe on the bottom |
| Emblem or symbol placement | Solid red triangle at the hoist spanning the full height of the stripes |
| Official proportions | Width‑to‑length ratio of 1:2 in standard national use |
Standard construction guidelines describe the Palestinian flag stripes and triangle with fixed ratios so that the triangle base matches the flag height and the apex reaches the midpoint along the fly edge. These proportions support consistent reproduction of the Palestine flag colors and layout in both printed and digital formats.
Flag of Palestine: Meaning and Symbolism
Most reference works place the Palestine flag within the wider pan‑Arab colour group, where each colour links to a historical Arab dynasty and, by extension, to periods of political authority in the region. These interpretations are usually treated as explanatory conventions rather than legal definitions, and writers often present them as widely circulated readings.
Other discussions focus on Palestinian flag symbolism in connection with nationalism, diaspora identity, and more recent political narratives, noting that communities may emphasise different aspects of the colours and the Palestinian flag triangle. Some commentators distinguish between pan‑Arab explanations and interpretations that focus specifically on Palestinian experience, which leads to a spectrum of symbolic readings across academic, diplomatic, and public debates.
What the Palestine Flag Represents
Black is often linked in reference material to Abbasid banners and recorded periods of armed struggle.
White is widely associated with Umayyad rule and, in some accounts, with ideas of clarity or honourable deeds.
Green is commonly connected to Fatimid heritage and, in modern commentaries, to fertile land and cultivated landscapes.
Red in the Palestinian flag triangle is frequently tied to Hashemite traditions and to documented narratives of sacrifice.
How to Identify the Flag of Palestine
In border areas, transport corridors, and civic buildings, the Palestine flag can be picked out quickly by focusing on a few consistent visual cues. At land crossings, central administrative entrances, and large public squares, it usually appears on mid‑height flagpoles or on masts fixed to flat rooftops.
The key pattern is a sequence of three equal horizontal bands from hoist to fly, with black at the top, white in the middle, and green at the bottom. The Palestinian flag triangle is a solid red shape anchored at the hoist, its base equal to the flag height and its apex pointing towards the centre of the fly side.
Unlike several related pan‑Arab designs, the Palestine country flag contains no stars, crescents, or additional emblems within the stripes or triangle. When the flag is shown alongside others on printed charts, maps, or digital selection menus, the four‑colour combination in this exact arrangement is usually enough to distinguish it.
Similar Flags Commonly Confused With the Palestinian Flag
A number of other flags use the same four pan‑Arab colours and similar layouts, which can cause confusion when designs are small, partially folded, or seen at a distance. The table below outlines the main visual differences.
| Commonly confused with | Shared visual elements | Key difference |
| Flag of Jordan | Black, white, green stripes and red hoist triangle | White star inside the red triangle on the Jordanian flag |
| Flag of Western Sahara | Black, white, green stripes and red triangle plus red emblem | Red crescent and star centred on the white stripe in Western Sahara flag |
| Flag of Sudan (pre‑2019 design continuity) | Horizontal tricolour with similar pan‑Arab palette | Different stripe order and a green triangle at the hoist on Sudan flag |
| Flag of Kuwait | Pan‑Arab colours in stripes and dark hoist quadrilateral | Green, white, red stripes and a black trapezoid instead of a full triangle |
| Flag of the Arab Revolt | Black, white, green stripes and red triangular hoist area | Historical proportions and context‑specific use of the original revolt flag |
History of the Flag of Palestine
The Palestine flag history follows the development of pan‑Arab colours in the early twentieth century and the growth of Palestinian national movements. The design descends from the 1916 Arab Revolt flag, which first brought together black, white, green, and red to reference several Arab dynasties.
During the British Mandate period, similar tricolours with a hoist triangle appeared in Palestinian nationalist contexts and in wider Arab political activity. The flag of Palestine was adopted by the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964 and became a core emblem in exile politics, diplomacy, and local mobilisation. In 1988, the Palestinian Declaration of Independence confirmed the same pattern as the Palestine national flag, and it has remained the recognised design in state and international venues.
1916: Pan‑Arab colours combined in the Arab Revolt flag against Ottoman authority.
1920s–1930s: Tricolour with triangle visible in Palestinian nationalist settings under the Mandate.
1964: PLO adoption of the Palestinian flag as the organisation’s banner.
1974: Broader international recognition of the PLO with the flag used at multilateral forums.
1988: Declaration of Independence identifies the tricolour with triangle as the Palestine national flag.
Palestine Flag Etiquette for Visitors: Common Dos and Don’ts
Descriptions of Palestinian public life usually refer to observed practices around the Palestinian flag rather than to a single codified etiquette law. These accounts highlight how institutions and communities handle the Palestine flag in ceremonies, demonstrations, and local commemorations in cities, towns, and camps.
| Commonly observed | Typically avoided |
| Displaying an intact Palestine flag on fixed flagpoles at public buildings. | Using the Palestinian flag as improvised clothing or costume material. |
| Raising the flag of Palestine during national events, commemorations, and diplomatic visits. | Printing the flag on disposable items that are quickly discarded. |
| Positioning the Palestine country flag at a similar height to other national flags at official venues. | Altering the Palestinian flag stripes or triangle shape in formal environments. |
| Keeping flags relatively clean and untorn on institutional rooftops and mastheads. | Placing the flag where its layout is visibly crumpled, obscured, or inverted. |
| Presenting the Palestine national flag in an orderly way during marches and rallies. | Using unrelated designs in contexts that imply they are official Palestinian flags. |
Flag of Palestine: Practical Travel Tips for Tourists
Public displays of the Palestine flag in towns, cities, and border corridors often sit close to where visitors deal with officials, transport services, and civic administration. These sites create natural reference points for movement, payment, and communication across Palestinian areas.
Movement: Public buses and shared taxis link major West Bank cities, with hubs marked by municipal signs and poles that frequently carry the Palestine flag colors.
Navigation: Central squares, ministry districts, and campus clusters often use bilingual wayfinding, and the Palestinian flag appears on many information boards, gateways, and local maps.
Language: Arabic functions as the primary working language, with English used on many core signs; in smaller localities, some boards rely more on flag motifs and logos than on extended bilingual text.
Payments: Larger urban areas support card and mobile payments, while cash remains common in markets where banners and posters incorporate Palestine flag symbolism.
Connectivity: Trip planning, messaging, and quick checks on details such as the time difference in Palestine rely on stable mobile data and coverage from local network operators.
Staying Connected in Palestine with SimCorner
Consistent data access in areas where the Palestine flag appears on checkpoint signage, station forecourts, and government buildings makes it easier to use mapping tools, translation apps, and digital reservation systems. Travellers arriving through regional airports or land routes often move immediately into app‑based navigation, transport booking, and accommodation check‑ins that require a live mobile connection.
SimCorner offers eSIM Palestine and Palestine SIM cards that connect to leading local partner networks, with activation handled through a QR code instead of an in‑person shop visit. Plans highlight affordability, hotspot use for laptops or additional phones, clear data allocations, zero roaming fees, and 24/7 support across major Palestinian cities and nearby districts. This type of connectivity supports research into Ramallah, capital of Palestine, organising routes between attractions listed among the top things to do in Palestine, and checking wider context such as where is Palestine while travelling between locations marked by official flag displays.
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