Flag of Yemen

Three equal horizontal stripes of red, white and black, with no symbols.

At a glance

Adopted: May 22, 1990
Shape (height : width): 2:3
Capital: Sanaa
Continent: Asia
Colours: red
white
black

What it means

Red: officially unity and the blood of martyrs
White: a bright future
Black: the dark past

Where it came from

The flag follows the red, white and black Arab Liberation Flag, a design used by several Arab countries in the 20th century. Both North Yemen and South Yemen had flags based on it. When the two joined, their special symbols were removed and the plain tricolour was kept.

History

From 1962 North Yemen (the Yemen Arab Republic) used a red, white and black flag with a green star in the middle. From 1967 South Yemen (the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen) used the same stripes with a light blue triangle and a red star.

On 22 May 1990 the two countries united as the Republic of Yemen, and the plain tricolour became the national flag that same day.

The same flag is used everywhere: on land by citizens and the government, and at sea by ordinary ships and the navy.

Fun facts

The flag is the same as the ones its two parts used before, just with the star and triangle taken away.
Libya's flag from 1969 to 1972 looked exactly like Yemen's flag.
The old German Empire flag had the same three colours in the opposite order.
The flag became official on the very day North and South Yemen united.