The flag of Kuwait
The flag of Kuwait
Three equal horizontal bands of green, white and red, with a black trapezoid at the hoist spanning the full height.
Ratio 1:2 · current design adopted 1961
The four colours and their meanings are taken from a couplet by the thirteenth-century poet Safi al-Din al-Hilli, which is the source of the Pan-Arab colour scheme generally, and Kuwait cites it directly. The black shape at the hoist is a trapezoid rather than a triangle, which is what separates it at a glance from Jordan, Palestine, Sudan and the UAE. It replaced a red flag with the word Kuwait in white on independence in 1961. The flag has an official geometry with the trapezoid occupying exactly one quarter of the length.
Flags it gets confused with
| Flag | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | The UAE has a red vertical rectangle at the hoist and bands of green, white and black. |
| Palestine | Palestine has a red triangle, not a black trapezoid. |
What the colours mean
- Green
#007A3DThe fertile land - White
#FFFFFFThe purity of Kuwaiti deeds - Red
#CE1126The blood on Kuwaiti swords - Black
#000000The defeat of the enemy
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.
- Ratio
- 1:2
- Current design adopted
- 1961
- Colours
- green, white, red, black
Common questions
- What does the flag of Kuwait look like?
- Three equal horizontal bands of green, white and red, with a black trapezoid at the hoist spanning the full height.
- What do the colours of the Kuwait flag mean?
- Green: the fertile land. White: the purity of Kuwaiti deeds. Red: the blood on Kuwaiti swords. Black: the defeat of the enemy.
- How do you tell the Kuwait flag from the United Arab Emirates one?
- The UAE has a red vertical rectangle at the hoist and bands of green, white and black.
- When was the Kuwait flag adopted?
- The current design dates from 1961, and its official ratio is 1:2.
Related pages
- Kuwait Capital, area, population and currency
- The flag of United Arab Emirates Routinely mistaken for this one
- The flag of Palestine Routinely mistaken for this one
- Every flag with green in it
- The flag of India Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Brazil Ratio 7:10
- The flag of Italy Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Mexico Ratio 4:7
- The flag of Ireland Ratio 1:2
- The flag of South Africa Ratio 2:3
- The flag of Jamaica Ratio 1:2
- The flag of Pakistan Ratio 2:3
Sources
- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (Public domain (US Government))