Flag of Bahrain

What the flag means

The five white points stand for the Five Pillars of Islam; that was the reason given for reducing them to five in 2002. DK's Complete Flags of the World says the white stripe added in 1820 marked a treaty with Britain and set the flag apart from those used by pirates.

History

Bahrain flew a plain red flag until 1820, when a white stripe was added after it signed a general maritime treaty with the British Empire. A serrated edge was introduced in 1932 to tell the flag apart from those of neighbouring states. In 1972 the number of white points was cut from 28 to eight. King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa's Decree by Law No. 4 of 2002 reduced them to five and fixed the proportions at 3:5.

The flag is often confused with Qatar's, which is maroon, has nine white points and is longer in proportion.

Earlier flags of Bahrain

1. 1820–1932Red with a plain white stripe
2. 1932–1972Red and white divided by a serrated line of 28 points
3. 1972–2002Red and white divided by a serrated line of eight points

Flags that look like this one

QatarBahrain

Both have a white band with a zigzag edge. Qatar is maroon with nine points; Bahrain is red with five points.