Flag of Sudan
Sudan’s flag has three horizontal stripes, red, white and black, with a green triangle at the pole. Sudan’s constitutional texts leave the flag to ordinary law and give its colours no meaning; the Brooklyn Museum’s guide to African flags reads the red as the martyrs of the independence movement, the black as the people and land of Sudan (the country’s name means “black” in Arabic), the white as peace and the green as Nile agriculture, prosperity and Islam.
Easily confused with
- Flag of EgyptThe same red, white and black stripes; Egypt’s has the golden eagle of Saladin on the white, Sudan’s a green triangle at the pole.
- Flag of South SudanBlack, red and green again, with blue and yellow added.
- Flag of the United Arab EmiratesThe UAE flag has a red vertical band at the pole and three equal horizontal stripes of green, white and black. The UAE government’s flag guideline gives the meanings: white for good deeds and generosity, red for the sacrifices of earlier generations of Emiratis, green for growth and prosperity, and black for strength, resilience and courage.
- Flag of YemenYemen’s flag is three equal horizontal stripes, red, white and black from the top, with nothing on them. Yemen’s constitution and its flag law of 1990 fix the colours and their order and give them no meaning.
- Flag of PalestinePalestine’s flag has three equal stripes of black, white and green and a red triangle at the pole. Palestinian sources trace it to the flag of the Arab Revolt of 1916; the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Cairo gives the common explanation of the colours, a verse by the 13th-century Arab poet Safi al-Din al-Hilli: “White are our deeds, black are our battles, green are our fields, red are our swords.”
How to read it
Article 7 of Sudan’s Interim National Constitution of 2005 says that the national flag, emblem and anthem are to be specified by law. The present flag dates from 1970: when Jaafar Nimeiri came to power, his government held a national competition for a new flag, open to artists, ministers and citizens, and a jury chose the design of the Sudanese artist Abdel Rahman Ahmed al-Jaali, Arabi21 reports. Radio Dabanga describes it as based on the Arab Liberation Flag, shared with Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Yemen among others. It replaced the blue, yellow and green flag first raised on 1 January 1956, at independence.
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Sudan’s flag and the other red, white and black flags
Several flags have red, white and black stripes; on Sudan’s the green triangle at the pole is the difference. Egypt’s flag has the same stripes with the golden eagle of Saladin on the white, under article 223 of Egypt’s constitution. Yemen’s constitution gives a plain red, white and black flag, with nothing on it. Jordan’s is the nearest in shape: its constitution sets a triangle at the pole too, but the triangle is red and holds a white seven-pointed star, and the stripes run black, white and green from the top.
South Sudan’s flag uses black, red and green with blue and yellow; the Brooklyn Museum reads its black as the people of South Sudan and its blue as the Nile.
The independence flag of 1956
From 1956 to 1970 Sudan flew three horizontal stripes of blue, yellow and green. Radio Dabanga says the colours were said to represent the Nile, the Sahara and farmland, chosen because they were politically neutral; Sudans Post gives blue for the Nile, yellow for the desert and green for agriculture. On 1 December 2025 General Abdelfattah al-Burhan, head of the Sovereignty Council, proposed restoring the independence flag, Sudans Post reported.
Read next
- Next in African flagsFlag of TunisiaTunisia’s flag is red with a white disc in the centre holding a red crescent and a red five-pointed star. The preamble of Tunisia’s constitution speaks of martyrs whose blood painted the land in the colours of the national flag; the Tunisian press describes the crescent and star as symbols of unity, faith and freedom.
- The same shape in Asian flagsFlag of JordanJordan’s flag has three equal stripes of black, white and green and a red triangle at the pole holding a white seven-pointed star. Al-Mamlaka, Jordan’s public broadcaster, explains the stripes as the Umayyad, Abbasid and Fatimid caliphates, the red triangle as the Hashemite family, and the seven points of the star as the seven verses of the Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Quran.
More african flags
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with lines, squares and rectangles or triangles.
Sources
- Interim National Constitution of the Republic of the Sudan, 2005, Interim National Constitution of Sudan of 2005, Article 7 (English translation), Constitute Project, Article 7
- علم غير مألوف يرفعه السودانيون في التظاهرات.. ما قصته؟, Arabi21, December 2018, Arabi21, Main text
- Flying the flag for Sudan – what flag is that?, Radio Dabanga, 19 April 2019, Radio Dabanga, Main text
- Al-Burhan proposes revival of independence-era flag, Sudans Post, 1 December 2025, Sudans Post, Main text
- Africa Fashion: flags of Africa (exhibition infographic), Portland Art Museum, Africa Fashion exhibition flag infographic; design and narrative courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum, Portland Art Museum, Sudan; South Sudan
- Constitution of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 2014, Constitution of Egypt of 2014 (rev. 2019), Article 223 (English translation), Constitute Project, Article 223
- Constitution of the Republic of Yemen, 1991, Constitution of Yemen of 1991 (rev. 2015), Article 156 (English translation), Constitute Project, Article 156
- Constitution of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 1952, Constitution of Jordan of 1952 (rev. 2016), Article 4 (English translation), Constitute Project, Article 4
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 13, 2026. How we research
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