Flag of Qatar

What the flag of Qatar looks like

The flag of Qatar has two parts: a white vertical band next to the pole and a maroon field covering the rest. The border between them is a serrated line with nine white triangular points pointing into the maroon. There are no emblems, stars or text.

The proportions are unusual. The flag is 11 units tall and 28 units long, a ratio of 11:28, which is longer than any other national flag. Most flags are closer to 2:3. Because of this, Qatar's flag is easy to spot on a pole or in a stadium crowd. The maroon is officially a specific dark red-brown with a violet tint, often called Qatar maroon. It is a dark wine red, quite different from the bright red used on most other flags.

A simplified image of the flag is used for the Qatar flag emoji, where the nine points are reduced to a few zigzags.

Qatar flag meaning and symbolism

The white stands for peace. The maroon stands for the blood shed by Qataris in the wars they fought. The nine white points are said to show Qatar as the ninth member of the group of Gulf states bound by treaty to Britain, though this explanation is traditional rather than official.

The maroon is also said to have a practical origin. According to a popular account, the dye used in the Gulf region turned from a bright red to a darker, purple-tinged shade when exposed to the sun and the heat, and over time this darker shade was kept as the official color. This is why people sometimes describe the color as red, purple or maroon depending on the source.

History of the Qatari flag

Gulf sheikhdoms traditionally flew plain red flags, and Qatar was no exception. The story goes that a white band was added to the red flag in the 19th century so it could be told apart from other red flags in the region, and the serrated line between the two colors developed from earlier designs. Over time the red darkened to maroon, a change often attributed to the dye reacting to the Gulf's heat and sun, and the darker color became the accepted one.

The nine-point design was in use while Qatar was a British protectorate. Qatar became independent from Britain on 3 September 1971, and the flag in its present form, with the current proportions and shade, was adopted in 1971 around that time. It is sometimes credited to Sheikh Abdullah bin Jassim Al Thani, though accounts differ. The flag has not changed since. Qatar celebrates National Day on 18 December, and the flag is displayed widely on that date.

Qatar and Bahrain: similar flags

People often confuse Qatar's flag with the flag of Bahrain. Both have a serrated border between white and a red field, and both come from the same regional tradition of red-and-white flags. They can be told apart in three ways. Bahrain's field is a brighter red, while Qatar's is dark maroon; Bahrain's border has five points and Qatar's has nine; and Bahrain's flag is much shorter, close to 3:5, against Qatar's very long one. Both are different from the flag of Kuwait, which has black, white, green and red sections.