The current flag of Sudan ( ar, علم السودان, ʿalam as-Sūdān) was adopted on 20 May 1970 and consists of a horizontal red-white-black

tricolour A tricolour () or tricolor () is a type of flag or banner design with a triband design which originated in the 16th century as a symbol of republicanism, liberty, or revolution. The flags of France, Italy, Romania, Mexico, and Ireland were ...

with a green triangle at the hoist. The flag is based on the Arab Liberation Flag of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, as are the flags of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, Syria,

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

, and Palestine and formerly of the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

North Yemen North Yemen may refer to: * Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1962) * Yemen Arab Republic The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية اليمنية '), also known simply as North Yemen or Yemen (Sanaʽa), was a ...

, South Yemen, and the

Libyan Arab Republic Muammar Gaddafi became the ''de facto'' leader of Libya on 1 September 1969 after leading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d'état. After the king had fled the country, the Revolutionary Comma ...

. Whereas there is no fixed order for the

Pan-Arab Colours The Pan-Arab colors are black, white, green and red. Individually, each of the four Pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain aspect of the Arabs and their history. The black represents the Black Standard used by the Rashidun Calip ...

of black, white, red, and green, flags using the Arab Liberation Colours (a subset of the Pan-Arab Colours) maintain a horizontal triband of equal stripes of red, white, and black, with green being used to distinguish the different flags from each other by way of green stars, Arabic script, or, in the case of Sudan, the green triangle along the hoist. In the original Arab Liberation Flag, green was used in the form of the flag of the Kingdom of Egypt and Sudan emblazoned on the breast of the

Eagle of Saladin The Eagle of Saladin ( ar, نسر صلاح الدين, known in Egypt as the Egyptian Eagle ( ar, النسر المصري ), and the Republican Eagle ( ), is a heraldic eagle that serves as the coat of arms of many countries; coat of arms of Eg ...

in the middle stripe. For 13 years from Sudan's independence in 1956 to the 1969 military coup of

Gaafar Nimeiry Jaafar Muhammad an-Nimeiry (otherwise spelled in English as Jaafar Nimeiry, Gaafar Nimeiry or Ja'far Muhammad Numayri; ar, جعفر محمد النميري; 26 April 192830 May 2009) was a Sudanese politician who served as the president of Sud ...

, Sudan used a tricolour flag of blue-yellow-green.

Design

Symbolism

According to ''World Flags 101'':

Construction Sheet

Colors scheme

Government and armed forces flags

Government flags

File:Presidential Standard of Sudan.svg, Flag of the

President of Sudan This article lists the heads of state of Sudan since the country's independence in 1956. History of the office Since independence was proclaimed on 1 January 1956, six individuals (and three multi-member sovereignty councils) have served as ...

Armed forces flags

File:Air Force Ensign of Sudan.svg, Air Force ensign

Historical flags

Flag Of El-Mahadia

In 1881, at the beginning of the El-Mahadia War, El-Mahadi

Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Ahmad ( ar, محمد أحمد ابن عبد الله; 12 August 1844 – 22 June 1885) was a Nubian Sufi religious leader of the Samaniyya order in Sudan who, as a youth, studied Sunni Islam. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi, ...

appointed Abdallahi (altaeayushi) ibn Muhammad as one of his four caliphs (''Khalifa'') and handed him a black flag. Abdallahi used his black flag to recruit

Baggara Arabs The Baggāra ( ar, البَقَّارَة "heifer herder") or Chadian Arabs are a nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arab and Arabized indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sahel mainly between Lake Chad and the Nile ri ...

and other tribes from the west. The other caliphs used differently coloured flags. The black horizontal stripe in the current Sudanese flag is a reference to this Mahdist-era black flag. File:Flag of the Mahdi movement in Sudan.svg, Flag used during the

Mahdist Revolt The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...

and in

Mahdist Sudan The Mahdist State, also known as Mahdist Sudan or the Sudanese Mahdiyya, was a state based on a religious and political movement launched in 1881 by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah (later Muhammad al-Mahdi) against the Khedivate of Egypt, which had ...

(1881–1899) File:Banner, declaration of faith and allegiance to Allah. Sudanese Mahdist Army, Omdurman, 1889. The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Given by Miss Victoria MacBean.jpg, Banner used by the Mahdist Army; captured at Omdurman in 1898. File:Black flag.svg, The

black standard The Black Banner or Black Standard ( ar, الراية السوداء, ar-rāyat as-sawdāʾ, also known as (, "banner of the eagle" or simply as , , "the banner") is one of the flags flown by the Islamic prophet Muhammad according to Muslim tr ...

was also used in Mahdist Sudan

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

Between 1899 and 1956,

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ar, السودان الإنجليزي المصري ') was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day ...

was administered jointly as a condominium by

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The condominium did not have its own flag; instead the

flag of Egypt The national flag of Egypt (Arabic: ) is a tricolour consisting of the three equal horizontal red, white, and black bands of the Egyptian revolutionary flag that dates back to the 1952 Egyptian Revolution. The flag bears Egypt's national emb ...

and the flag of the United Kingdom were always flown together, with the British flag taking precedence. A flag did exist as a rank flag for the British Governor General of the Sudan. In common with the rank flags of governors and commissioners of other British overseas territories, it consisted of a Union Flag defaced with a white disk bearing the territory's badge or coat of arms, surrounded by a wreath of laurel. As no badge or coat of arms existed for Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the disk instead contained the words "GOVERNOR GENERAL OF THE SUDAN". At the Afro–Asian Conference held between 18 and 24 April 1955, Sudan was represented by a white flag bearing the name "SUDAN" in red capital letters. File:Flag of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (1914–1922).png, Flags used in

(1914–1922) File:Flag of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.svg, Flags used in

(1922–1956) File:Flag of the Governor-General of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.svg, Flag of the British Governor General File:Flag of the Sudan Defense Force (1925-1956).svg, Flag of the Sudan Defence Force (1925–1956) File:Flag of Sudan (Bandung Conference).svg, Provisional flag of Sudan used during the Afro-Asian Conference (April 1955)

Republic of Sudan (1956–1969)

Upon independence from

and the

on 1 January 1956, Sudan adopted a blue-yellow-green tricolour as its national flag. This flag was designed by the poet Macki Sufi and remained in use until 1970, when the current flag was adopted. The colours of the flag represented the River Nile (blue), the Sahara (yellow) and farmlands (green). They were chosen as they were neutral between ethnic groups and political parties. Use of this flag resurfaced during the

2018–19 Sudanese protests The Sudanese Revolution was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Sudan ...

. File:Flag India.svg, Flag of the Republic of Indian Sudan 1947-1956 File:Flag of Sudan (1956–1970).svg, Flag of the

Republic of the Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic ...

(1956–1969) File:Naval Ensign of Sudan (1956-1970).svg, Naval ensign (1956–1970) File:Ensign of the Sudanese Customs Service (1956-1970).svg, Customs ensign (1956–1970)

Democratic Republic of the Sudan (1969–1985)

Following a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

in May 1969, the country was renamed the

Democratic Republic of the Sudan On May 25, 1969, several young officers calling themselves the Free Officers Movement (after the Egyptian officers who instigated the Egyptian revolution of 1952) seized power in Sudan and started the Nimeiri era in the history of Sudan. At ...

and a competition was held to design a new flag. The winning entry was designed by artist Abdel Rahman Ahmed Al-Jali based on

pan-Arab colors The Pan-Arab colors are black, white, green and red. Individually, each of the four Pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain aspect of the Arabs and their history. The black represents the Black Standard used by the Rashidun Calip ...

and was adopted as the national flag in May 1970. File:Flag of Sudan (1956–1970).svg, Flag of the

(1969–1970) File:Flag of Sudan.svg, Flag of the

(1970–1985) File:Standard of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan (variant).svg, Standard of the President of the

Former provincial flags

File:Flag of North Kurdufan.svg,

Kordofan Kordofan ( ar, كردفان ') is a former province of central Sudan. In 1994 it was divided into three new federal states: North Kordofan, South Kordofan and West Kordofan. In August 2005, West Kordofan State was abolished and its territory ...

Sub-national flags

Some of the states of Sudan have adopted their own distinctive flags. These usually consist of the state’s emblem displayed on a white or coloured background.

States

Flag of Blue Nile State.png,

Blue Nile State Blue Nile ( ar, النيل الأزرق ') is one of the eighteen states of the Republic of the Sudan. It was established by presidential decree nº 3 in 1992 and is named after the Blue Nile River. The region is host to around forty different ...

Flag of Central Darfur State.png,

Central Darfur Central Darfur State () is one of the states of Sudan, and one of five comprising the Darfur region. It was created in January 2012 as a result of the ongoing peace process for the wider Darfur region. The state capital is Zalingei. The state w ...

Flag of North Darfur State.png,

North Darfur North Darfur State ( ar, ولاية شمال دارفور Wilāyat Šamāl Dārfūr; ''Shamal Darfor'') is one of the wilayat or states of Sudan. It is one of the five states composing the Darfur region. It has an area of 296,420 km2 and a ...

Flag of South Darfur State.png,

South Darfur South Darfur State ( ar, ولاية جنوب دارفور Wilāyat Ǧanūb Dārfūr; Janob Darfor) is one of the wilayat or states of Sudan. It is one of the five states that compose the region of Darfur in western Sudan. Overview Prior to the ...

Flag of West Darfur State.png,

West Darfur West Darfur State ( Wilāyat Ḡarb Dārfūr) is one of the states of Sudan, and one of five comprising the Darfur region. Prior to the creation of two new states in January 2012, it had an area of 79,460 km² and an estimated population of ...

File:Flag of Kassala State.png,

Kassala State Kassala ( ar, ولاية كسلا, called ''Ash Sharqiyah'' during 1991—1994) is one of the 18 '' wilayat'' (states) of Sudan. It has an area of 36,710 km² and an estimated population of approximately 1,400,000 (2000). Kassala is the capit ...

Flag of Khartoum State.png,

Khartoum State Khartoum State ( ar, ولاية الخرطوم, Wilāyat al-Kharṭūm) is one of the eighteen states of Sudan. Although it is the smallest state by area (22,142 km2), it is the most populous (5,274,321 in 2008 census). It contains the coun ...

Flag of Al Qadarif State.png, Al Qadarif State

Administrative areas

Flag of the Abyei Area.png, Abyei Area

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sudan, Flag of Flags introduced in 1970 Flag Flags of Africa Sudan