The Evolution of the Saudi Flag: From Green Banner to National Symbol

RIYADH — Long before the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed, a green banner bearing the Islamic declaration of faith was already associated with the Saudi state.

Its history reaches back to the First Saudi State, founded in 1727, when Imam Mohammed bin Saud adopted a green banner made of silk and khazz, inscribed with the Shahada: “There is no god but Allah; Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah.”

The banner was more than an identifying mark. According to the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives, known as Darah, Saudi imams carried the banner during campaigns to unify the country, sometimes entrusting it to one of their sons and at other times carrying responsibility for it themselves. It represented leadership and sovereignty.

That tradition survived the passage from one Saudi state to another.

Imam Turki bin Abdullah, founder of the Second Saudi State, also adopted the green banner as he worked to reunify territories under Saudi rule, preserving a symbol inherited from the earlier state.

Its appearance, however, was not yet the flag Saudis know today.

During King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud's unification campaigns, the flag was green with the Shahada at its center. At one stage, two crossed vertical swords appeared above the inscription, while a white section ran beside the flagpole.

The design subsequently evolved. The two swords gave way to a single horizontal sword beneath the Shahada, moving the flag closer to its modern form.

Today, the Saudi flag is a green rectangle whose width is two-thirds of its length. The Shahada appears in white at its center, with a white unsheathed sword beneath it. The sword points to the left, with its hilt on the right.

Darah describes the sword as a symbol of strength and justice, while the flag as a whole embodies sovereignty, national unity and the historical depth of the Saudi state.

The evolution of the design was followed by formal regulations governing exactly how the national flag should appear.

A landmark came on March 11, 1937.

King Abdulaziz approved Shoura Council Decision No. 354, which standardized the dimensions of the Saudi flag at 150 centimeters long and 100 centimeters wide, unified its forms and established the principle of exchanging flags with other countries according to the diplomatic conventions of the time.

Further regulations followed over the decades.

A 1952 Shoura Council decision addressed flag dimensions and amendments. In 1973, the Kingdom's Flag Law was issued through a Council of Ministers decision and contained 22 articles governing the flag and its uses.

A 10-article implementing regulation followed in 1978, while a 1986 Council of Ministers decision approved standardized specifications for the national flag.

March 11 would eventually acquire another significance.

King Salman bin Abdulaziz designated the date as Flag Day, commemorated annually in recognition of the historical and national value of the Saudi flag.

The date recalls March 11, 1937, when King Abdulaziz approved the form that would become the national symbol familiar today.

Across nearly three centuries, governments changed, borders took shape and a modern state emerged.

The green banner endured.

Its design evolved, its dimensions were codified and its use was formally regulated, but the Shahada remained at its heart.

Today, when the Saudi flag is raised, it carries more than the identity of a modern nation.

It carries nearly three centuries of Saudi history.