Although the Maronite flag is believed to have been created in the 17th or 18th century, its first recorded use was in October 1848. The flag was also raised as the first national flag of Lebanon on October 2, 1918, following the fall of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

Background

The 1918 version of the flag was created by two

Lebanese Brazilian Lebanese Brazilians ( pt, Líbano-brasileiros), (Arabic: البرازيلي اللبناني) are Brazilians of full or partial Lebanese ancestry, including Lebanese-born immigrants to Brazil. According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography ...

journalists, Shukri El Khoury and Naoum Labaki, who were both part of the Mahjar movement in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. The flag was raised on October 2, 1918, following the expulsion of Ottoman troops from

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

and was hung in the Administrative Council (

Majlis ( ar, المجلس, pl. ') is an Arabic term meaning "sitting room", used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups of administrative, social or religious nature in countries with linguistic or cultural conne ...

) of Mount Lebanon until 1920 when the flag and government were succeeded by the state of

Greater Lebanon The State of Greater Lebanon ( ar, دولة لبنان الكبير, Dawlat Lubnān al-Kabīr; french: État du Grand Liban), informally known as French Lebanon, was a state declared on 1 September 1920, which became the Lebanese Republic ( ar, ...

. The flag was also used by the second Lebanese delegation to the Paris Peace Conference, led by the

Maronite patriarch This is a list of the Maronite patriarchs of Antioch and all the East, the primate of the Maronite Church, one of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Starting with Paul Peter Massad in 1854, after becoming patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Patriarchat ...

Elias Peter Hoayek Elias Peter Hoayek ( ar, الياس بطرس الحويّك; 4 December 1843 – 24 December 1931; also spelled Hoyek, Hwayek, Huayek, Juayek, Hawayek, Houwayek) was the 72nd Patriarch of Antioch for the Maronites, the largest Christian Catholic ...

, to petition for an independent Lebanese state separate from the Arab kingdom of

Faisal I Faisal I bin Al-Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi ( ar, فيصل الأول بن الحسين بن علي الهاشمي, ''Faysal el-Evvel bin al-Ḥusayn bin Alī el-Hâşimî''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria ...

Symbolism

The flag has a simple design with two main features: *The white background represents the snow of

as a symbol of purity and peace. *The cedar is based on the national symbol of Lebanon, the

Cedrus libani ''Cedrus libani'', the cedar of Lebanon or Lebanese cedar (), is a species of tree in the genus cedrus, a part of the pine family, native to the mountains of the Eastern Mediterranean basin. It is a large evergreen conifer that has great religi ...

. The cedars of Lebanon are mentioned seventy-seven times in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

, especially in the book of

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

, chapter 92, verse 13, where it says that "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon" and chapter 104, verse 16, where it is stated: " e trees of the Lord are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted".

Gallery

Background

Symbolism

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading