Israeli flag

Israel

Use	National flag
Adopted	October 28, 1948
Design	A blue Star of David between two horizontal blue stripes on a white field.
Variant flag of Israel
Use	Civil ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	1948
Design	Navy blue flag with a white vertically elongated oval set near the hoist containing a vertically elongated blue Star of David.
Variant flag of Israel
Use	Naval ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	1948
Design	Navy blue flag with a white triangle at hoist and blue Star of David in it.
Variant flag of Israel
Use	Israeli Air Force flag
Proportion	2:3
Design	Light blue flag with thin white stripes with dark blue borders near the top and bottom, displaying an air force roundel in the center.

The flag of Israel (Hebrew: דגל ישראל Degel Yisra'el, Arabic: علم إسرائيل 'Alam Isra'īl) was adopted on October 28, 1948, five months after the establishment of the State of Israel. It depicts a blue hexagram on a white background, between two horizontal blue stripes.

The blue colour is described as "dark sky-blue", and varies from flag to flag, ranging from a hue of pure blue, sometimes shaded almost as dark as navy blue, to hues about 75% toward pure cyan and shades as light as very light blue. The flag was designed for the Zionist Movement in 1891. The basic design recalls the Tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, which is white with black or blue stripes. The symbol in the center represents the Star of David ("Magen David"), a Jewish symbol dating from late medieval Prague, which was adopted by the First Zionist Congress in 1897.

In 2007, an Israeli flag measuring 660 m × 100 m (2,170 ft × 330 ft) and weighing 5.2 tonnes (5.7 short tons) was unfurled near the ancient Jewish fortress of Masada, breaking the world record for the largest flag.

The blue stripes are intended to symbolize the stripes on a tallit, the traditional Jewish prayer shawl. The portrayal of a Star of David on the flag of the State of Israel is a widely acknowledged symbol of the Jewish people and of Judaism.

The Israelites used a blue colored dye called tekhelet; this dye may have been made from the marine snail Murex trunculus. This dye was very important in both Jewish and non-Jewish cultures of this time, and was used by royalty and the upper class in dyeing their clothing, sheets, curtains, etc. (The dye from a related snail can be processed to form Tyrian purple called argaman.)