Flag of Tunisia
Tunisia’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.
Easily confused with
- Flag of TurkeyTurkey’s flag is red with a white crescent and a white five-pointed star, which the Turkish Flag Law calls the white crescent-and-star red flag (“ay yıldızlı al bayrak”). The law gives the crescent, star and red no meaning; the popular story that they are the moon and a star reflected on a field covered with fallen soldiers’ blood is a legend, which the Kure encyclopedia says has no standing as a historical record.
- Flag of AlgeriaAlgeria’s flag is green by the pole and white, with a red crescent and a red five-pointed star in the centre. Algeria’s Foreign Ministry explains the green as hope for progress and a better tomorrow, the white as peace, love and goodness, the red as the importance of work in achieving prosperity, and the crescent and star as a sign that Islam is the main religion in Algeria.
How to read it
Article 8 of the Constitution of Tunisia (2022) says the flag is red, with a white circle in its centre bearing a five-pointed red star surrounded by a red crescent, as determined by law. The law is Organic Law No. 99-56 of 30 June 1999, which La Presse de Tunisie summarises: a red rectangle whose height is two thirds of its length; a white circle in the middle whose diameter is a third of the flag’s length, centred where the diagonals cross; and a red five-pointed star in the circle, its centre a thirtieth of the flag’s length from the centre of the circle, away from the pole. The President’s flag adds the words “Pour la Patrie” (For the Homeland) in gold letters. La Presse dates the flag to 20 October 1827, when Hussein Bey II ordered a distinctive flag for the Tunisian navy after the Battle of Navarino; it was officially adopted in 1831 and proclaimed the state flag of the Republic on 1 June 1959. Tunisians mark its anniversary each 20 October. Article 129 of the Penal Code punishes insulting the flag in public with a year in prison, Tekiano notes.
Also searched as: flag of tunisia, tunisia flag, tunisia flag meaning, tunisian flag, tunisian flag meaning.
Tunisia’s and Turkey’s flags side by side
Turkey’s flag is also red with a crescent and a five-pointed star. Turkey’s flag law describes a red flag with a white crescent and star, set towards the pole: the centre of the crescent’s outer circle is half the flag’s height from the hoist, and the crescent opens towards the fly with the star in its opening. Tunisia’s crescent and star are red, inside a white disc in the very centre of the flag.
What the crescent and star are said to stand for
The law describes the flag and gives no meanings. Tekiano calls the crescent and star symbols of unity, faith and freedom. The Brooklyn Museum’s guide to African flags reads the white as peace, the circle as the nation’s radiance and the crescent and star as the unity of all Muslims; the star and crescent has its own history on oldsymbols.com.
Where this symbol came from
oldsymbols.comStar and crescentThe crescent and star in the flag’s white disc; the symbol’s history is on oldsymbols.com.Read next
- Next in African flagsFlag of BeninBenin’s flag has a green band down the side next to the pole and two horizontal stripes, yellow above red, across the rest. The Beninese government takes the meanings from the national anthem: green recalls the hope of democratic renewal, red the courage of the ancestors, and yellow is a call to keep the country’s richest treasures.
- The same shape in Air Force ranksAirman (E-2)Airman, pay grade E-2: the second enlisted rank in the US Air Force. The insignia is one stripe with a star in a circle at its middle.
More african flags
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with circles, curves and waves, squares and rectangles or stars.
Sources
- Constitution of the Republic of Tunisia, 2022, Constitution of Tunisia of 2022, Article 8 (English translation), Constitute Project, Preamble; Article Eight
- Le drapeau tunisien fête son 198ème anniversaire, La Presse de Tunisie, 20 October 2025, La Presse de Tunisie, Main text
- Le drapeau Tunisien célèbre son 198ème anniversaire, Tekiano, 20 October 2025, Tekiano, 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, Tunisia
- Türk Bayrağı Kanunu (Kanun No. 2893, 1983), Turkish Flag Law No. 2893 of 22 September 1983, as published with its annexed table, Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (TBMM), Art. 2; annexed table
- Türk Bayrağı, Kure Ansiklopedi entry “Türk Bayrağı”, Kure Ansiklopedi, Section on measurements
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 13, 2026. How we research
Added .