The

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

() is the official flag of the

. It was adopted on 22 May 1990, the day of the

Yemeni unification The Yemeni unification () took place on 22 May 1990, when the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (South Yemen) and the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen) united, forming the Republic of Yemen. Background (1918–1990) North Yemen became an ...

. It resembles 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 ...

that was used by the National Liberation Front. It served as the derivation for the flags of both

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until Yemeni unification, its unification with the Yemen A ...

prior to their unification, and the distinctive elements of flag were removed in choosing the flag post-unification. NLF supporters celebrating

According to the official description, the red stands for unity and the bloodshed of martyrs, the white for a bright future, and the black for the supposed dark past. The flag is graphically identical to the flag of 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. When Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, the Revolutio ...

from 1969 to 1972.

Design

Construction sheet

Meaning behind the colors

Color shades

Government flags

File:Flag of the Yemeni Interior Ministry.svg, Flag of the Yemeni Interior Ministry. File:Yemeni Republican Guard Flag.svg, Flag of the Yemeni Republican Guard File:Flag of the Yemeni Special Security Forces.svg, Flag of the Yemeni Special Security Forces

Regional flags

The Federalization of Yemen or the Federal Republic of Yemen was the outcome of the

National Dialogue Conference National Dialogue Conference may refer to: * National Dialogue Conference (Yemen), 2013–2014 * Syrian National Dialogue Conference, 2025 {{Disambiguation ...

. The Dialogue members also agreed that

would be transformed into a six-region federal system. The regions would be Azal in the North, Saba in the center, Tihama in the West, Aden and Janad in the South, and Hadhramaut in the East. File:Flag of Aden Region.svg, Flag of Aden Region File:Flag of Azal Region, Yemen.svg, Flag of Azal Region. File:Flag of Hadhramaut.svg, Flag of Hadhramaut Region. File:Flag of Janad Region (Yemen).svg, Flag of Janad Region. File:Flag of Sheba Region (Yemen).svg, Flag of Saba Region. File:Flag of Tahama Region (Yemen).svg, Flag of

Tihama Region The Federalization of Yemen is the proposed transformation of Yemen from a unitary state to a Federation, federal state. Driven by the significant Economy of Yemen, economic, Religion in Yemen, religious, Politics of Yemen, political, and History ...

Historical flags

Before Yemen was unified into the present-day Republic of Yemen in 1990, it existed as two states,

and

North Yemen

Kingdom of Yemen

The Kingdom of Yemen was never a British protectorate, it was nominally part of the Ottoman Empire until 1918 and was independent thereafter. Independently, here were two British protectorates (known as the Eastern and Western Aden Protectorates) which contained 24 sultanates, emirates and sheikhdoms in the hinterland of Aden. The flag was in use until 1962 when the imam was overthrown and the Yemen Arab Republic was established. A

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

between republicans (supported by

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 royalists (supported by

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

) continued until 1970, with the royalist side continuing to use the flag of the kingdom.

Yemen Arab Republic

When the

Yemen Arab Republic The Yemen Arab Republic (YAR; ', ), commonly known as North Yemen or Yemen (Sanaʽa), was a country that existed from 1962 until its Yemeni unification, unification with the South Yemen, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (commonly known as ...

revolted against the imamate in 1962, a version of the

with one green star in the center of the white band which symbolized unity and independence.

South Yemen

The flag of the

People's Democratic Republic of Yemen South Yemen, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, abbreviated to Democratic Yemen, was a country in South Arabia that existed in what is now southeast Yemen from 1967 until its unification with the Yemen Arab Republic in 19 ...

in the South was a version of the

with a light blue chevron which represented the people under the leadership of the National Liberation Front, with a red star next to the hoist representing the NLF itself and later the Socialist Party. The flag was adopted on 30 November 1967 when South Yemen declared independence from the United Kingdom until the

in 1990. It was used again for a few months in 1994 during the existence of the Democratic Republic of Yemen.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yemen, Flag of Flags introduced in 1990

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 Asia

Tricolor flags Horizontally symmetrical flags Flags with black, red and white