National Flag of Libya: History and Meaning

Under Muammar Gaddafi's rule, the national flag of Libya was the only monochromatic flag in the world. It consisted of a rectangle of green, with no insignia, stripes, or symbols of any kind.

Libya is a North African country on the Mediterranean coast. It has been a part of several kingdoms and imperial regimes, as well as had its share of dictators. Its flag reflects this chaotic history of the nation better than anything else.

According to the Libyan Constitution at the time,

Chapter 1, Article 7: The national flag shall have the following dimensions: Its length shall be twice its breadth, it shall be divided into three parallel colored stripes, the uppermost being red,.....

...the center black and the lowest green, the black stripe shall be equal in area to the two other stripes combined and shall bear in its center a white crescent, between the two extremities of which there shall be a five-pointed white star.

★ When the Emirate was replaced by the Kingdom of Libya, this design was not acceptable to other factions of the now-unified Libyan people. So, the design was modified to give the flag a new meaning in light of the newfound independence.

The red stripe was added to signify the bloodshed that occurred under the Italian Fascist rule, and the green stripe was added to represent the prosperity and freedom of Libya. The crescent, retained from Idris' flag, as well as the green strip honor the major religion in Libya―Islam.

Immediately following the revolution that brought Gaddafi to power, the flag was changed to one showing the pan-Arab colors. These colors also form the basis for the flag of several other Arab states such as Egypt, Iraq, and the UAE, even to this day. This flag lasted from 1969 to 1972.

This kept the color scheme the same, but added a hawk holding a scroll in the center stripe. The scroll held the Arabic name of the Federation. This Federation lasted from 1972 to 1977, and consequently the flag also went out of fashion in 1977.

The plain green rectangle signified the country's allegiance to Gaddafi's philosophy, encapsulated in his Green Book. As stated before, this was the only flag in the world to consist of a single color.

★ This flag was replaced by the original, 1951-1969 flag of the Kingdom of Libya after the 2011 Libyan Civil War and eventual ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. The flag became a symbol of the revolution, as several versions with minor modifications as well as the unaltered version were used by protestors.

★ Though a flag of a unified Libya only came into existence in 1951, the region of Libya had several flags before it. The flag of the Emirate of Cyrenaica has been mentioned before. The region of Fezzan-Ghadames had a similar design. This region was later merged with Tripolitania and Cyrenaica to form the Kingdom of Libya.

During the Allied occupation, the respective regions of Libya occupied by Britain and France had the same flags as their occupiers. Before that, Libya was part of the Italian Empire, and used its flag.