Saudi Arabian flag
 |
|
| Use |
State and war flag, state and naval ensign 
|
|---|---|
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | March 15, 1973 |
| Design | A green field with the Shahada or Muslim creed written in the Thuluth script in white above a horizontal saber, in which the tip was pointed to the hoist-side in the center. |
The flag of Saudi Arabia (Arabic: علم المملكة العربية السعودية) is the flag used by the government of Saudi Arabia since March 15, 1973. It is a green flag featuring in white an Arabic inscription and a sword. The inscription is the Islamic creed, or shahada.
The Arabic inscription on the flag, written in the calligraphic Thuluth script, is the shahada or Islamic declaration of faith:
The green of the flag represents Islam and the sword stands for the strictness in applying justice.
The flag is manufactured with identical obverse and reverse sides, to ensure the shahada reads correctly, from right to left, from either side. The sword points to the left on both sides, in the direction of the script. The flag is sinister hoisted, meaning that it is hoisted to the left of the flagpole, as viewed from the obverse (front) side. (Flagpole is to the right of the flag). The flag's green is Pantone 349 C (C90, M12, Y95, K40)
Because the shahada is considered holy, the flag is not normally used on T-shirts or other items. Saudi Arabia protested against its inclusion on a planned football to be issued by FIFA, bearing all the flags of the participants of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Saudi officials said that kicking the creed with the foot was completely unacceptable. Similarly, an attempt by the U.S. military to win favour with children of the Khost Province of Afghanistan by distributing footballs adorned with flags, including that of Saudi Arabia, ended in demonstrations.
The flag is never lowered to half-mast as a sign of mourning, because lowering it would be considered blasphemous. Similarly, the flags of Afghanistan, Somaliland, and Iraq are also never at half-mast
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