The flag of Algeria
علم الجزائر · since 1962
Back to AlgeriaA flag divided vertically into green at the hoist and white at the fly, with a red crescent and a red five-pointed star at the centre. The design was carried by Algerian nationalists from the 1930s and 1940s, flown by the National Liberation Front during the war of independence and by the provisional government from 1958, and first officially hoisted on 3 July 1962. A law of 25 April 1963 fixed its geometry and describes its colours by wavelength.
At a glance
- Adopted
- 1962
- Proportion
- 2:3
- Colours
- Earlier flags
- 5
- Designer
- 1
The colours
The colours of the flag of Algeria, in the order it has them
- 0146.1%
Green
أخضرHoist half
- HEX
#006633- RGB
0 102 51- CMYK
88 26 100 12- Pantone
356 C
- 0248.3%
White
أبيضFly half
- HEX
#FFFFFF- RGB
255 255 255- CMYK
0 0 0 0
- 035.6%
Red
أحمرCrescent and star
- HEX
#D21034- RGB
210 16 52- CMYK
14 100 79 4- Pantone
186 C
No law gives these codes. HEX and RGB are the colour this site draws the flag in; CMYK, Pantone and RAL are the values most often published for it.
Construction
How the flag is drawn
Two equal vertical halves, green at the hoist and white at the fly, charged at the centre with a red crescent whose horns open towards the fly and a red five-pointed star set within the crescent on the white half.
- Halves
- The flag is divided along its vertical midline; green against the staff, white outside
- Star
- Five-pointed, inscribed in a circle whose radius is one-eighth of the flag's height, entirely on the white half; two of its points lie on the vertical midline and one on the horizontal midline
- Crescent, outer circle
- Radius one-quarter of the flag's height, centred at the centre of the flag
- Crescent, inner circle
- Radius one-fifth of the flag's height
- Crescent horns
- The two points delimit an arc equal to five-sixths of the outer circle's circumference
Other forms
- Vertical flag
- The flag turned through 90 degrees, green at the top.
- Naval ensign
- The national flag with two crossed fouled anchors in the canton; the anchors were formerly red and are now white.
- Naval jack
- A blue flag with the naval ensign in the canton.
- Presidential flag
- Based on the national flag, with the full name of the country set over the crescent and star.
Meaning
What each part stands for
- Green
- Islam, in every reading of the flag; Wikipedia traces the colour through Hayreddin Barbarossa, Emir Abdelkader and the 1871 Kabyle uprising
- White
- Purity in the most common reading; Herzog and Hannes link it to the white flag Abdelkader used against the French
- Red
- Associated by Algerian historians with jihad, a meaning traced to the early caliphs and to the red flags of the Ottoman cavalry
- Crescent and star
- Symbols of Islam; the five points are read as the five pillars of Islam or the five daily prayers
Who drew it
- Émilie Busquant
- Wife of the nationalist leader Messali Hadj; generally credited with sewing the first version in 1934, though who designed the flag remains disputed
History
How the flag of Algeria got here
- 1516
Flags of the Regency of Algiers
1516 → 1830
The Regency used several flags: a red, yellow and green tricolour reported over the Djenina palace and the Bab Azoun gate, a plain red flag over the dey's palace, and corsair flags bearing crescents. In 1830 the dey's army flew an all-red flag.
- 1830
French Algeria
1830 → 1962
As a colony and then a part of France, Algeria flew the French tricolour.
- Undated
Standard of Emir Abdelkader
Undated → 1847
The emirate founded by Abdelkader to resist the French conquest used several flags, the most important a green and white one at his tent.
Image: Hierakares, CC BY-SA 3.0
- 1926
The North African Star
1926 → Undated
From 1926 Messali Hadj's party used a green flag carrying a white Arabic inscription that named Algeria as the country, Arabic as the language and Islam as the religion.
- 1934
The nationalist flag
1934 → 1962
Green and white with a red crescent and star; generally credited as first sewn by Émilie Busquant in 1934, though trade unionists had shown a similar flag at May Day parades in 1919 and 1920. Carried at Sétif in May 1945, adopted by the FLN and from 1958 by the provisional government.
Image: Colokreb, CC BY-SA 4.0
- 1962
The flag of AlgeriaIn use
3 Jul 1962 → today
First officially hoisted on 3 July 1962 and standardised by the law of 25 April 1963.
The law
What defines it, and who flies it
- 25 April 1963
Law No. 63-145 defining the characteristics of the national emblem
Signed by Ahmed Ben Bella and published in the official gazette on 30 April 1963. Sets the proportion, the halves, the star and crescent geometry, and defines the green and the red by wavelength rather than by a colour code.
- November 2020
Constitution of 2020, Article 234
Places the national emblem among the provisions no constitutional amendment may undermine, as a symbol of the Revolution and the Republic.
In use
The national, civil and war flag on land, and the national and civil ensign at sea
Ships of the National Navy fly the naval ensign with anchors in the canton
Placed by the 2020 constitution among the symbols no amendment may touch
Related flags
The flags it is confused with or comes from
Coat of arms
The arms of Algeria
