Flag of Egypt
Three equal horizontal bands of red, white and black, with the gold eagle of Saladin in the centre of the white band. A scroll below the eagle reads Arab Republic of Egypt in Arabic.
What the flag means
Egypt's State Information Service ties the colours to the 1952 revolution. Red is the period of struggle against British occupation before it, white is the revolution itself, which ended the monarchy without bloodshed, and black is the end of oppression under the monarchy and colonial rule. The eagle is named after Saladin, the 12th-century sultan of Egypt.
History
The Free Officers introduced a red, white and black flag with an eagle after they overthrew King Farouk in 1952. The United Arab Republic, formed with Syria in 1958, used the same colours with two green stars, and from 1972 the flag of the Federation of Arab Republics carried a gold hawk. Egypt kept that flag after the federation broke up in 1977. On 4 October 1984 the hawk was replaced by the eagle of Saladin.
Earlier flags of Egypt
- 1922–1958Green field with a white crescent and three white stars (Kingdom of Egypt)
- 1958–1971Red, white and black tricolour with two green stars (United Arab Republic)
- 1972–1984Red, white and black tricolour with the gold hawk of Quraish
Flags that look like this one
Red, white and black stripes. Egypt has a golden eagle and Iraq has green Arabic script. Yemen's flag is the plain tricolour.
Flags of Egypt's neighbours
Sources
- Wikipedia: Flag of Egypt
- Flags of the World: Egypt
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Read how we research flags in our editorial policy, or report a mistake.
