Lebanon

Information about the Lebanese Flag: Colors and Meaning of the Flag of Lebanon

The flag of Lebanon consists of two red stripes at the top and at the bottom. In the middle portion of the Lebanese flag there is a white band with a fully green cedar tree. The flag as adopted on 7th of December 1943. The flag ratio is 2:3.

Article 5 of the Lebanese Constitution “The Lebanese flag shall be composed of three horizontal stripes, a white stripe between two red ones. The width of the white stripe shall be equal to that of both red stripes. In the center of and occupying one-third of the white stripe is a green cedar tree with its top touching the upper red stripe and its base touching the lower red stripe.”

Article 5 of the Lebanese Constitution. “Two red-colored bands symbolizing martyrdom, surround horizontally a white-colored band, symbol of the Lebanese snow-capped mountain peaks; in the center of the flag, the cedar tree that characterized Lebanon since its birth, serving to build temples and ships, thus inspiring immortality and tolerance. Some people tend to use the color brown when drawing the trunk of the Cedar. This is a common mistake, the Cedar tree should be drawn in green.”

The present flag of Lebanon was adopted just prior to independence from France in 1943. It was designed to be a neutral flag, not allied to any one of Lebanon’s religious groups. The red and white colors are those associated, respectively, with the Kayssites and Yemenites, opposing clans that divided Lebanese society between 634 and 1711. The tree is the cedar traditionally connected with Lebanon: Psalms 92:12, “the righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon” The green cedar (Arz) (Species: Cedrus libani or Lebanon Cedar) symbolizes immortality and steadiness.