The flag of Sudan () was adopted on 20 May 1970 and consists of a horizontal red-white-black tricolour with a green triangle at the hoist. The flag is based on the

Arab Liberation Flag The Arab Liberation Flag () is a pan-Arab tricolor flag originally adopted by the Egyptian Free Officers movement following the 1952 Egyptian revolution. The tricolor flag consists of horizontal stripes in red, white, and black. The Arab Liber ...

of the

Egyptian Revolution of 1952 The Egyptian revolution of 1952, also known as the 1952 coup d'état () and the 23 July Revolution (), was a period of profound political, economic, and societal change in Egypt. On 23 July 1952, the revolution began with the toppling of King ...

. 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, Arab people and their history. History The four colors derive their potency from a v ...

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 The Kingdom of Egypt () was the legal form of the Egyptian state during the latter period of the Muhammad Ali dynasty's reign, from the United Kingdom's recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922 until the abolition of the monarchy of Eg ...

and Sudan emblazoned on the breast of the Eagle of Saladin in the middle stripe. For 13 years from Sudan's independence in 1956 to the 1969 military coup of

Gaafar Nimeiry Gaafar Muhammad an-Nimeiry (otherwise spelled in English as Gaafar Nimeiry, Jaafar Nimeiry, or Ja'far Muhammad Numayri; ; 1 January 193030 May 2009) was a Sudanese military officer and politician who served as the fourth president of Sudan, hea ...

, Sudan used a tricolour flag of blue-yellow-green. The flag was designed by , and was selected after a national competition.

Design

Symbolism

According to ''World Flags 101'':

Construction Sheet

Colour scheme

The specified colours are as follows:

Government and armed forces flags

Government flags

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

Armed forces flags

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

Historical flags

Flags of the Mahdists

In 1881, at the beginning of the

Mahdist War The Mahdist War (; 1881–1899) was fought between the Mahdist Sudanese, led by Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided One"), and the forces of the Khedivate of Egypt, initially, and later th ...

, self-proclaimed

Mahdi The Mahdi () is a figure in Islamic eschatology who is believed to appear at the Eschatology, End of Times to rid the world of evil and injustice. He is said to be a descendant of Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad, and will appear shortly before Jesu ...

Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Ahmad bin Abdullah bin Fahal (; 12 August 1843 – 21 June 1885) was a Sudanese religious and political leader. In 1881, he claimed to be the Mahdi and led a war against Egyptian rule in Sudan, which culminated in a remarkable vi ...

appointed

Abdallahi ibn Muhammad Abdullah ibn-Mohammed al-Khalifa or Abdullah al-Taashi or Abdallah al-Khalifa, also known as "The Caliph, Khalifa" (; 184625 November 1899) was a Sudanese Ansar (Sudan), Ansar ruler who was one of the principal followers of Muhammad Ahmad. Ahmad c ...

as one of his four caliphs and handed him a black flag. Abdallahi used his black flag to recruit

Baggara Arabs The Baggāra ( "heifer herder"), also known as Chadian Arabs, are a Nomad, nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arabs, Arab and Arabization, Arabized Indigenous peoples of Africa, indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sa ...

and other tribes from the west. The other caliphs used different 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 and in Mahdist Sudan (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 Omdurman () is a major city in Sudan. It is the second most populous city in the country, located in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the capital city of Khartoum. The city acts ...

in 1898. File:Black flag.svg, The black standard was also used in Mahdist Sudan

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

Between 1899 and 1956,

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ') was a condominium (international law), condominium of the United Kingdom and Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day South Sudan and Sudan. Legally, sovereig ...

was administered jointly as a

condominium A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership regime in which a building (or group of buildings) is divided into multiple units that are either each separately owned, or owned in common with exclusive rights of occupation by individual own ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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

flag of the United Kingdom The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag. The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801, which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in pe ...

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 The Sudan Defence Force (SDF) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces unit raised in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1925 to assist local police in internal security duties and maintain the condominium's territorial integrity. During World War II, ...

(1925–1956) File:Flag of Sudan (Bandung Conference).svg, Flag used to represent Sudan at the Afro-Asian Conference (April 1955)

Republic of Sudan (1956–1969)

Upon the independence of

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

from Anglo-Egyptian rule 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. 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 (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

in May 1969, the country was renamed the Democratic Republic of the Sudan 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 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, Arab people and their history. History The four colors derive their potency from a v ...

and was adopted as the national flag in May 1970. File:Flag of Sudan (1956–1970).svg, Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan (1969–1970) File:Flag of Sudan.svg, Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan (1970–1985) File:Standard of the President of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan (variant).svg, Standard of the president of the Democratic Republic of the Sudan.

Former provincial flags

File:Flag of North Kurdufan.svg,

Kordofan Kordofan ( ') 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 divided between N ...

Sub-national flags

The sub-national flags usually consist of the state's emblem displayed on a white or coloured background. Some of the

states of Sudan Below is a list of the 18 states of the Sudan (Arabic names are in parentheses). Prior to 9 July 2011, the Republic of the Sudan was composed of 25 states. The ten southern states now form part of the independent country of South Sudan. Two ad ...

have adopted their own distinctive flags.

States

Flag of Blue Nile State.png,

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

Flag of Central Darfur State.png, Central Darfur Flag of North Darfur State.png, North Darfur Flag of South Darfur State.png,

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

Flag of West Darfur State.png, West Darfur File:Flag of Kassala Wilayyah.svg, Kassala State Flag of Khartoum Wilayah.png, Khartoum State Seal of River Nile State.png,

River Nile State River Nile State () is one of the 18 wilayat or states of Sudan. It has an area of 122,123 km² (47,152 mi²) and an estimated population of 1,511,442 (2018 est). It is made up of seven localities. Localities * Ad-Damir (Capital) * At ...

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 A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

Flags of Africa

Quadcolor flags