image byZoltan Horvath, 19 December 2024* Editorial note: The Moroccan government considers Western Sahara as a part of its own territory. This page does not necessarily imply any partiality on the territorial issue in question, as also doesn’t the existence of our page about theflags of Moroccan administrative divisions, among which Western Sahara is included.
Flag adopted27 February1976, state emblem adopted 1976,modified June 1991.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 2001
The flag (designed by the Frente Polisario) isinvertedin nature. The black (on top) represents death, the green represents life, thewhite represents peace.
Brent Overton, 24 January 2000
The flag of the SADR follows thepan-Arabcolours and is similar to the PLO flag [now the flag of thePalestine Authority,ed.], with theaddition of a crescent and star on the white stripe.
Stuart Notholt, 09 FFebruary eb 1996
POLISARIO was originally closely aligned with the Algerian regime.So it is quite likely that the SADR flag’s star and crescentwould be like that of theAlgerian flag.
Stuart Notholt, 09 February 1996
The POLISARIO flag and the SADR flag are the same. When Polisarioproclaimed the SADR their own flag was hoisted.
Jaume Ollé, 23 August 1998
I have recently read three books on West Sahara written by Japanesejournalists and found the article mentioning the national flag of SADRwas designed byEl Ouali (1948-1976) founder ofFrente Popularpara la Liberación de Saguía el Hamura y Río de Oro (Polisario)prepared for its independence proclamation on Feb 27 1976. He respectedPLO and added red star and crescent to the flag. Thebook shows flags but the shape is similar toTurkishstar and crescent and there are both flags with left and right hoists.The green stands for wealth, red for martyr’s blood, white for hope,black for colonialism and suppression, red star and crescent forIslam.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 20 October 2007
 image byŽeljko Heimer, 01 Jan 2004 |   |
The proportions are 1:2.The height of the triangle is equal to 1/3 the length of the flag.The centre of the circle which creates the outer arc of the crescentis in the exact centre of the flag. The diameter of the circles whichcreate the outer and inner arcs of the crescent are equal to 5/7 thewidth of the central stripe. The centre point of the circlecontaining the star is to be found on an imaginary line connectingthe horns of the crescent, and has a diameter equal to 4/5 thedistance between the horns of the crescent. The centre points of thecircles which create the crescent and place the star are equidistantalong the horizontal meridian. (From a document issued by the ProtocolSection of the Office of the President of the Republic in June 1987.The image above is my interpretation of the official figures for WesternSahara, although flags in practice almost certainly don’t followthem.)
Christopher Southworth, 01 January 2004
This does not quite define the distance between the two circlesdetermining the crescent, but from the sketches he sent me togetherwith the above, it seems obvious that the distance is 1/6 of thediameter of each of the circles. (The center of the circle definingthe star is, by virtue of construction requists that it lays on thesame line as the hrons of the crescent, exactly at the midpointbetween the two circles defining the crescent.)
Željko Heimer, 01 January 2004
The design of the flag of Western Sahara is credited to the founder of POLISARIO, El Ouali (full name, Ouali Sayed) - above. Another founding member of POLISARIO, Mahjoub Salek, presents a different history in an interview given to Yabiladi, 7 May 2018.
Salek claims to have been member of the committee in charge of the elaboration of the POLISARIO's emblems and principles during the movement's second congress, held in 1974. "I was not inspired by the Palestinian flag, which I did not know at the time. The flag of POLISARIO reflects our revolutionary ideals. Red represents blood, black evokes the colonization period, white highlights our revolution, and green personifies the values of edification. The star and crescent means our Arab character and our Muslim identity."
Salek further explains that "other members of the committee proposed a yellow flag charged in the middle with a crescent, a star and a camel".
Following the presentation of the two proposals, the congress eventually selected Salek's design.
https://www.yabiladi.com/articles/details/64562/autre-mahjoub-salek-drapeau-polisario.html
Yabiladi, 7 May 2018
Mahjoub Salek founded in 2004 a dissident movement, Khat Achahid. He believes that the POLISARIO became a puppet in the hands of the Algerian government, which blocks any negotiation and maintain the status quo for political reasons. He adds that this would never had happened if Ouali Sayed had not been killed during a raid against Nouakchott (Mauritania). Accordingly, Salek remains faithful to Sayed and there is no reason to believe that his claims on the authorship are illegitimate. It could be that Sayed, as the head of POLISARIO, eventually validated Salek's design.
Ivan Sache, 18 July 2018
I haven�t found any legal document on color specification of flag. Other sources for colors:
The Olympic Flag Manuals don�t illustrate this flag, because Western Sahara is not member of IOC or IPC.
The French Navy Books don�t mention Western Sahara or the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic at all.
Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone system: PMS Black, PMS White, PMS 356C (green), and PMS 185C (red).
Wikipedia illustrates the flag, but doesn�t give any color specification.
Flag Color Codes gives the following color values:
Red: Hex #C4111B, RGB 196-17-27, CMYK 0-91-86-23, Pantone 3546 C, RAL3020
Black: Hex # 000000, RGB 0-0-0, CMYK 0-0-0-100, Pantone Black 6 C, RAL 9005
White: Hex #FFFFFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone N/A, RAL N/A
Green: Hex #007A3D, RGB 0-122-61, CMYK 100-0-50-52, Pantone 7732 C, RAL 6029
Zoltan Horvath, 19 December 2024
BeforeSpanish Sahara was a unified provinceit was divided in two provinces, theSaguiat el-Hamra (the "SA"of "polisario"… and the "EH" of theISO country code) andRio de Oro (the"RIO"). The "POLI" means "por laliberación" ("for the liberation"). Spanish Saharawas also known as Spanish West Africa, but that one included other bits likeIfni (to Morocco in 1969), Cape Juby (the southernmost part of Morocco notincluding WS) and La Aguera.
Joàn-Francés Blanc, 16 November 1999
When the Spanish pulled out of this territoryin 1976, it was partitioned betweenMorocco, whichtook the larger part, andMauritania. Localnationalists of the POLISARIO movement proclaimed the Sahrawi Arab DemocraticRepublic on 27 February 1976.
Stuart Notholt, 09 February 1996
Since 1997, after internal borders changed: regional flags unknown; inWestern Sahara 2 almost complete regions and part of a third:
The Polisario Flag was at first a party flag. When Spanish troopsyielded control of the country to Morroco(Marcha verde), Polisarioproclaimed the SADR on 27 February and hoisted same flag (likeFLNA andAlgeria).At that time the SADR would be a single party country and logically theidentification between party symbol and state symbol was total. More thanhalf of Africa (and many others countries in the world) recognized SADRand it was accepted in theAfrican UnionOrganization. The SADR-POLISARIO flag was very popular and no changewas ever proposed.
Jaume Ollé, 20 November 1999
The United Nations now seem to accept a new plan concerning thepolitical future of Western Sahara. Since Morocco and POLISARIO havenot been able to reach an accord on a self-determination referendum(the problem is who is allowed to vote in this predominantly nomadicregion), UN will prefer to postpone the decision, form an autonomousregion within Morocco, and (maybe) organize the referendum in fiveyears.
Jan Zrzavy, 26 June 2001
From theAssociation de soutien à un référendum libre etrégulier au Sahara Occidental (Western Sahara) newsletter:
On the eve of the anniversary of the PolisarioFront, threats and intimidations against Saharawi activistsincreased in the occupied territories and southern Morocco, thepolice looking for leaflets and Saharawi flags.
An example:
20.05.03 - An emissary of the pacha of El Ayoun paid a visitto a Saharawi defender of human rights, Lidri Elhoucine, to askhim to go to the office of the pacha, which Lidri refused becausethere was no official summons. The same evening the pacha himself,who was following Lidri in his car, told him he knew about his“separatist” activities. The pacha threatened him witharrest if the Polisario flags, which he was accused of possessing,were distributed. Lidri is a professor of philosophy, a member ofthe former executive of the Forum for Truth and Justice in El Ayoun,his name figures on the list of 18 Saharawis accused in the caseconcerning the dissolution of the FVJ Sahara section.
Zane Whitehorn, 24 May 2003
 image byŽeljko Heimer, 01 Jan 2004 |  |
I saw a Western Sahara flag that had the crescent and staronlyon [what we might at first call] the reverse. Of course this may beinterpreted as:
"Obverse" means "main side" (and thus "reverse" means "secondary side"),usually the side shown in construction sheets and other flag depictions,the side where inscriptions or emblems are applied (when these are appliedon one side only), the side turned outwards when the flag is arranged forindoor limp display, etc. Usually, in left to right cultures the obverse isthe side with the hoist at the viewer’s left hand ("dexter hoisted"),and in right to left cultures the obverse is the side with the hoist at theviewer’s right hand ("sinister hoisted").
This being so, and considering that the flag spotted by Santiago lookedlike this
o________ ________o|\_______| |_______/|| )______| |__*)__( ||/_______| |_______\|| || |then the flag is indeedsinister hoisted and has a different reverse(no emblem). The obverse is the side showing the emblem — becauseit shows the emblem.
 image byŽeljko Heimer, 01 Jan 2004 | |
When the Polisario gain independence after a referendum and are recognizedas a “true country” the green will go on top and the black willgo to the bottom.
Brent Overton, 24 January 2000
 image byAntónio Martins, 12 July 2004, based on report byJaume Ollé, 20 Nov 1999 | |
I believe the flag with a map of the Western Sahara in the centeris fictional.
Jaume Ollé, 20 November 1999
What was this flag? Some non-islamic Saharawi fraction or supportermovement?
António Martins, 12 July 2004
image byEugene Ipavec, 19 February 2010
In a Yahoo News photo of street protesters in Spain from last year(ephemeral url, butdetail here), a variantof the EH flag can be seen. (The protests were against Morocco’sexpulsion of Western Sahara independence activist Aminatou Haidar to Spain,where she had started a hunger strike at Lanzarote Airport.)
Eugene Ipavec, 19 February 2010
The French text in white capital letters, "SAHARA" (in theblack stripe) / "LIBRE" (in the green stripe), reads "freeSahara".
Ivan Sache, 20 February 2010
image byZoltan Horvath, 19 December 2024
based onphoto located byBlinxCat, 20 May 2022
A flag belonging to the disputed SADR in Western Sahara. This flag is a square white flag with fringe carried in front of a group of soldiers(?) carrying the national flag behind.
BlinxCat, 20 May 2022
image byZoltan Horvath, 19 December 2024
The arms present two crossed rifles in saltire with National Flags emerging from them. Supported by a pair of olive branches with a crescent and star above plus an Arabic motto reading حرية ديمقراطية وحدة (meaning Liberty, Democracy, Unity) on a red scroll below.
Christopher Southworth, 15 October 2024
The reported flag is a square white flag with coat of arms placed in the center of the flag. The flag has black fringes, but additionally a brown (golden) border is also seen.
Note: based on pictures on the Internet, the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army forces use the national flag in general, so this flag is very unique.
Zoltan Horvath, 19 December 2024
