Flag of Bahrain

How to read it

Decree-Law No. 4 of 2002 on the flag of the Kingdom of Bahrain, signed by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on 14 February 2002, sets the design: a horizontal rectangle whose height is three fifths of its length (3:5), deep red over three quarters of the length and white over the quarter next to the pole. The line between the colours is serrated and divided into five parts, each the base of a white isosceles triangle whose sides reach into the red for a fifth of the red part’s length. The decree-law replaced Decree-Law No. 16 of 1972 on the flag of the State of Bahrain. The Norwegian encyclopedia Store norske leksikon notes that the flag is used for all purposes, private, state and military.

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Telling it from Qatar’s flag

Qatar’s flag has the same layout, white at the pole with a serrated edge, but it is maroon, it has nine white points, and it is 11:28, the only national flag more than twice as long as it is high. Bahrain’s is red, with five points, at 3:5. The two have much in common, Store norske leksikon says of Qatar’s flag and Bahrain’s flag of 2002.

Fewer points over time

The number of points has changed. The encyclopedia gives 28 points from 1932 to 1972 and seven after that, until the 2002 law set five; before 1932 a version with a straight line between the colours was in use. It traces the red and white to an agreement of 1820 between Britain and a number of states on the Gulf, and notes that the same colours are in the flags of the emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates. The state arms changed in 2002 too: the serrated line on the shield went from three white points to five, to stand for the five pillars of Islam as on the flag.

How the law has it flown

The flag flies on the Royal Court and the guest palaces, on government buildings and public institutions, on Bahrain’s embassies and consulates abroad and on Bahraini ships. Private people and businesses may fly it for decoration on official holidays and public or private occasions, and government buildings must fly it on official holidays and public occasions from sunrise to sunset. It is not flown on vehicles other than official protocol cars, and it is lowered to half-mast when official mourning is declared. The law bans its commercial use, in trademarks and advertising in particular, and sets a penalty of up to a month in prison or a fine of up to 100 dinars.