The Flag of the United Arab Republic (Arabic: علم الجمهورية العربية المتحدة) was adopted following the unification of Egypt and Syria into a single state known as the United Arab Republic on 22 February 1958. Syria left the union on 28 September 1961 following the 1961 Syrian coup d'état.[1]Egypt would continue to use the name and symbols of the United Arab Republic until 1972.[2] The flag would be readopted by Ba'athist Syria in 1980, leading to its use as a symbol of Neo-Ba'athism.
Design
The flag consisted of a horizontal triband of red, white, and black, with two green five-pointed stars centred on the white band. The colors were taken from the Arab Liberation Flag that was used in Egypt since the 1952 Egyptian revolution. The black stood for the experience of colonial oppression endured by Arabs, the red symbolized the sacrifices and bloodshed in the fight for liberation from colonial rule, and white signified peace and bright future envisioned for independent Arab states.[3] The two stars represented Egypt and Syria, and their green color represented Islam.[4][5][6][3]
Later use
Egypt continued to use the flag of the United Arab Republic until 1972, after it changed its official name to the Arab Republic of Egypt. It was briefly used by North Yemen between 27 September and 1 November 1962 during the North Yemen civil war and was used as the flag of the Syrian Arab Republic under Ba'athist rule between 1980 and 2024. In 1963, Iraq adopted a flag that was similar but with three stars, representing the hope that Iraq would join the United Arab Republic.
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