---
title: "Flag of Israel: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Israel flag stands for, its official 8:11 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/israel/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Israel

**The flag of Israel: A white field with two horizontal blue stripes near the top and bottom edges, and a blue Star of David at the centre.**

Ratio 8:11 · current design adopted 1948

*[Flag drawn on the page: Israel]*

The design is a prayer shawl: two blue stripes on white, exactly as a tallit is woven, with the Star of David added at the centre. It was used by the Zionist movement from 1897 and adopted five months after the state was founded, on 28 October 1948. The blue shade was left unspecified for decades, so official flags ranged from pale sky blue to near-navy before a 2000s standard settled on a mid-blue. The 8:11 ratio is shared only with Norway.

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Blue** (#0038B8) — Taken from the tekhelet dye of the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — The field of the tallit

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Star of David | The Magen David, a Jewish emblem widely used from the seventeenth century |

- **Ratio:** 8:11
- **Current design adopted:** 1948
- **Colours:** blue, white

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Israel look like?

A white field with two horizontal blue stripes near the top and bottom edges, and a blue Star of David at the centre.

### What do the colours of the Israel flag mean?

Blue: taken from the tekhelet dye of the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl. White: the field of the tallit.

### When was the Israel flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1948, and its official ratio is 8:11.

## Related pages

- [Israel](https://atoneplace.net/country/israel/)
- [Every flag with blue in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/blue/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of India](https://atoneplace.net/flag/india/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Australia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/australia/)
- [The flag of South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-korea/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]