The flag was abolished following the fall of the Kingdom in 1969, and the leaderMuammar al-Gaddafi had implemented a few other different flags since then, but it was ultimately readopted by theNational Transitional Council following the fall of Gaddafi on 3 August 2011.
The flag consists of atribandred-black-green design, the central black band being twice the width of the outer bands. A whitestar and crescent[1] is located in the center of the flag.
The first Libyan flag design was based on the banner of theSenussi dynasty fromCyrenaica, which consisted of a black field andstar and crescent design, and was later used as the flag of the region.
Omar Faiek Shennib, Chief of the Royal Diwans, Vice President of the National Assembly and Minister of Defense underKing Idris Al Senussi is credited in the memoirs ofAdrian Pelt, UN commissioner for Libya (1949 to 1951) for the design of the original flag of Libya.[citation needed]According to Pelt:"during deliberations of the Libyan National Constitutional Convention, a paper drawing of a proposed national flag was presented to the convention byOmar Faiek Shennib (distinguished member of the delegation from Cyrenaica). The design was composed of three colours: red, black and green, with a white crescent and star centered in the middle black stripe. Mr. Shennib informed the delegates that this design had met the approval of His Highness Emir of Cyrenaica,King Idris Al Senussi (later to become King of Libya). The assembly subsequently approved that design."[2][year needed][page needed]
This flag represented Libya from its independence in 1951 until the1969 Libyan coup d'état. The symbolism of the star and crescent in the flag of the Kingdom of Libya was explained in an English language booklet,The Libyan Flag & The National Anthem, issued by the Ministry of Information and Guidance of the Kingdom of Libya (year unknown) as follows: "The crescent is symbolic of the beginning of the lunar month according to the Islamic calendar. It brings back to our minds the story ofHijra [migration] of our Prophet Mohammed from his home in order to spread Islam and teach the principles of right and virtue. The Star represents our smiling hope, the beauty of aim and object and the light of our belief in God, in our country, its dignity and honour which illuminate our way and puts an end to darkness."[3]
In 2011, interviews with Ibtisam Shennib and Amal Omar Shennib, Omar Faeik Shennib's only two remaining children, were cited as confirming Pelt's account of the origin of the flag.[4] Ibtisam Shennib recalled the morning her father brought a draft of the flag to the breakfast table and showed it to her and her siblings, explaining the original intent behind the selection of the flag's colours and symbols. According to Omar Faiek Shennib, "red was selected for the blood sacrificed for the freedom of Libya, black to remember the dark days that Libyans lived under theoccupation of the Italians and green to represent its primary wealth, agriculture, [Libya once being referred to as the 'agricultural basket' or 'breadbasket' of theOttoman Empire] and the future prosperity of the country. The star and crescent were placed within the black central strip of the flag as a reference to theSenussi flag and the role of King Idris in leading the country to independence". The flag's colours also echo the colours of the flags of the three regions of Libya:Fezzan (red),Cyrenaica (black), andTripolitania (green).[2]
UnderMuammar Gaddafi'sleadership, Libya had ared-white-black flag from 1969 to 1977, and it was replaced by the all-green flag from 1977 to 2011, during which it was the only national flag in the world to have one colour and no design.
During theLibyan Civil War against the rule ofMuammar Gaddafi, the 1951–69 flag – as well as various makeshift versions without the crescent and star symbol, or without the green stripe – came back into use in areas held by theLibyan opposition and by protesters at several Libyan diplomatic missions abroad.[5][6][7]TheNational Transitional Council, formed on 27 February 2011, adopted the flag previously used in the Kingdom of Libya between 1951 and 1969 as the "emblem of the Libyan Republic".[8][9] The flag was officially defined in article three of theLibyan Draft Constitutional Charter for the Transitional Stage:
The national flag shall have the following shape and dimensions:
Its length shall be double its width, its shall be divided into three parallel coloured stripes, the uppermost being red, the centre black and lowest green, the black stripe shall be equal in area to the other two stripes together and shall bear in its centre a white crescent, between the two extremities of which there shall be a five-pointed white star.
On 10 March 2011, France was the first country to recognise the council as the official government of Libya, as well as the first to allow the Libyan embassy staff to raise the flag.[10] On 21 March, the flag was flown by the Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations and appeared on their official website,[11][12] and thereafter in late August by theArab League[13] and by Libya's own telecommunications authority,[14] theLibya Telecom & Technology, on its own website. In the following months many other Libyan embassies replaced the green flag of Gaddafi with the tricolour flag.
This original flag of Libya is now the only flag used by theUnited Nations to represent Libya, according to the following UN statement: "Following the adoption by the General Assembly of resolution 66/1, the Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations formally notified the United Nations of a Declaration by the National Transitional Council of 3 August 2011 changing the official name of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to 'Libya' as well as a decision to change Libya's national flag to the original."[15] All Libyan diplomatic posts, such asembassies andconsulates, use the original flag of Libya.
The Libyan Flag & The National Anthem, English-language booklet issued by the Ministry of Information and Guidance of the Kingdom of Libya (year unknown, copy kept by the library of Swiss Vexillological Society)
The flag of Libya is described in Article 7 of the Constitution of 7 October 1951. It was officially adopted on 24 December 1951. The passage from the constitution reads:
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 coloured stripes, the uppermost being red, the centre black and the lowest green, the black stripe shall be equal in area to the two other stripes combined and shall bear in its centre a white crescent, between the two extremities of which there shall be a five-pointed white star.
Both the precise shade and legal construction is described in a booklet issued by the Ministry of Information and Guidance of the Kingdom of Libya in 1951.[16] The passage reads:
The exact particulars of the Libyan National Flag prescribed by Article 7 of the Constitution shall be as follows: The red shall be sign red, and the green permanent green. The Crescent shall be on the hoistward side of the star, and the centre of the circle of which the crescent forms a part shall be in the centre of the flag. The star shall be in the open end of the crescent and one point of the star shall point to the centre of the circle. The maximum width of the 270 crescent shall equal1⁄6 of its outside diameter which is1⁄4 of the width of the flag. The distance between the tips of the crescent shall equal that between the uppermost and lowermost point of the star measured along a perpendicular forming the hoistward sides of these two points. The perpendicular shall form a tangent to the outside circumference of the crescent at a point equidistant from the top and bottom of the flag.
Thename "Libya" was re-introduced during colonisation by Italy in 1934. Before 1911, theOttomanvilayet of Tripolitania (the "Kingdom of Tripoli") included much of the same territory as modern Libya.
The areas of Libya underBritish military administration (Cyrenaica 1947–1949 and Tripolitania 1947–1951) did not have their own flag and thus used theUnion flag of the United Kingdom.
DuringWorld War II, Italian Libya wasoccupied by France and the United Kingdom. TheCyrenaica Emirate was declared inBritish-occupied Cyrenaica in 1949 with the backing of the British authorities. The "Emir of Cyrenaica",Idris of Libya, kept the emirate's flag which derives from theflag of Turkey (a white crescent and star on a black background) as his personal flag after he became king of Libya in 1951.
Originally called the United Kingdom of Libya, it came into existence upon independence on 24 December 1951 and lasted until acoup d'état led byMuammar Gaddafi on 1 September 1969 overthrew KingIdris. Its flag was a triband of red, black and green with a crescent moon and star.
In 1972 when Libya joined theFederation of Arab Republics its flag was adopted by the country, linking it toEgypt andSyria. It featured a golden hawk (the "Hawk of Quraish"), holding a scroll with the Arabic name of the Federation. The flags of Libya from 1951 to 1972 and since 1977 uses the 2:1 ratio, the 1972–1977 flag is the only Libyan flag that uses the 3:2 ratio for the first time.
The flag of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya was adopted on 19 November 1977 and consisted of a green field. It was the onlynational flag during that time in the world with only one colour.[17] It was chosen by Libyan leaderMuammar Gaddafi to symbolise hispolitical philosophy (after hisGreen Book).[18] The green colour traditionallysymbolises Islam, reflecting the historical green banners of theFatimid Caliphate. In Libya, green was also a colour traditionally used to represent theTripolitania region. This flag continues to be used byGaddafi loyalists.[19][20]
^[English translation based on The Libyan Flag & The National Anthem, a booklet issued by the Ministry of Information and Guidance of the Kingdom of Libya, cited after Jos Poels at FOTW, 27 January 1997]
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