Flag of Somaliland

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Flag of Somaliland
Flag of Somaliland.svg
Vexillological symbol : National flag on land and at sea?
Aspect ratio: 1: 2
Officially accepted: October 14, 1996

Today's flag of Somaliland was adopted by the National Assembly in Hargeysa on October 14, 1996 and introduced in 1997. Previously, Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia on May 18, 1991 , had used a different flag.

The flag consists of three horizontal stripes of equal width. The top stripe is colored green. The Schahāda , the creed of Islam , which can also be found on the flag of Saudi Arabia, is shown in white on the stripe . The middle, white stripe contains a black star, the five points of which, similar to those of the star of the Somali flag, represent the areas in which ethnic Somali live: British Somaliland or Somaliland, Italian Somaliland or the rest of Somalia, French Somaliland or Djibouti , Ogaden or the Somali region in Ethiopia and northeastern Kenya . The bottom stripe is colored light red and symbolizes the blood that flowed in the war of the rebel movement SNM against the dictatorship of Siad Barres 1981–1991. The proportion of the flag is 2: 3.

The official interpretation of the individual flag components is: The green color stands for prosperity , the white for peace and the red for the blood of the war heroes who died for liberation. The Shahada is a symbol for Islam, the black star for the end of the idea of ​​a united Somalia .

The Constitution of the Republic of Somaliland , adopted in a referendum on May 31, 2001 , states about the flag:

Article 7: The flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem
1. The flag of the Republic of Somaliland should consist of three horizontal, parallel and equally large stripes, the top of which is green and in the middle of which in Arabic the words Lā Ilāh Ilā Allāh Muhammad Rasūlu-llāh [ Eng . There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God ] are written; the middle stripe is white and in its center there is an equilateral five-pointed black star; the lower stripe is bright red.

Former flags

Historic flag? The old flag of Somaliland (1991-1996)

A different flag was in use between the 1991 proclamation of independence and the introduction of the current flag in 1996. It consisted of a white field with a green circle in the middle, around which the Shahada was written in black.

At the time of the colonial territory of British Somaliland , two more different flags were in use in 1903–1950 and 1950–1960.

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