The flag of the State of Libya, like its coat of arms, are the state symbols of the country and its integral parts.
Description and proportions of the flag of Libya
The flag of Libya is a rectangular cloth, the width of which is 1: 2 to the length. The flag has three horizontal stripes of unequal width. The lower one has a dark green color and is one quarter of the width of the panel. The middle stripe is twice as wide and made in black. The top is identical to the bottom in width and has a bright red color. In the center of the black field there is a crescent moon with a white five-pointed star.
History of the flag of Libya
The flag in its present form was first adopted in 1951, when the country gained sovereignty and independence from Italy. Its appearance was largely borrowed from the flag of the Senusiyya Order. This Muslim brotherhood was founded in Mecca in 1837 and exists in Libya and Sudan.
Muammar Gaddafi, who came to power in 1969 during the Libyan revolution, overthrew the power of the Sinusites, who created a theocratic monarchy in the country. It was then that their traditional flag was abolished, and new banners appeared on the flagpoles. At first it was the tricolor of the Libyan Arab Republic, the lower stripe of which was black, the middle one was white, and the upper one was red. Then the country raised the flag of the Federation of Arab Republics, which existed as a state flag until 1977. On November 7, changes in the state symbol of the country took place again, and until 2011 the banners of the Libyan Arab Jimahiriya fluttered over the territory. They were dark green banners without a single symbol on their field. The color of the flag symbolized the Green Revolution, which was victorious under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi, and emphasized the importance of the country's state religion.
The Gaddafi regime was overthrown in the 2011 civil war. It was then that the flag of Libya was restored to its original form. The country's naval forces have their own symbol, which is a rectangular panel, the main field of which is made in dark blue. The upper quarter, adjacent to the pole, repeats the national flag of the country, and on the right half of the blue field there is a white stylized anchor.
The official emblem of the State of Libya is an Islamic crescent moon with a five-pointed star, made in gold. It symbolizes the importance of religion in the political and social structure of the country.
