Compiled by MALIK MERCHANT

The featured photo of Jordan’s flag at the top of this post is reproduced from the website Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Tokyo, Japan. The following textual material has been gathered from the Embassy’s website as well as the websites of North Carolina’s Timothy S. Y. Lam Museum of Anthropology and a-z-animals, an interesting educational website on animals that also provides factual and well-researched information on other topics while describing animals in a specific country.

The Jordanian flag, in its current form, was adopted in 1922. It is inspired, in shape and colours, by the Great Arab Revolt banner, which was raised from the plains of Mecca in 1916.

Each of the three stripes represents a different caliphate, with black representing the Abbassid Caliphate, white, representing the Ummayyad Caliphate, and green, representing the Fatimid Caliphate, while the red chevron encompassing the flag’s components represents the Hashemite Family, in addition to paying homage to the Arab Revolt. The Fatimids, who ruled in North Africa and Egypt from 909 – 1171 CE are the ancestors of the current 49th Hereditary Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, His Highness the Aga Khan, who is respectfully addressed by his Ismaili followers as Mawlana Hazar Imam — Our Lord, the Present/Living Imam.

The red triangle contains a seven-pointed star to symbolize the seven verses of the Surat Al Fatiha, the opening chapter of the Holy Qur’an. The website A-Z Animals adds that the verses symbolize unity as well as include “humanity, virtue, humility, faith in one God, national spirit, social justice, and aspiration.”

The website of the Timothy S. Y. Lam Museum of Anthropology located in North Carolina, mentions that colours are used to represent beliefs, traditions, and concepts in many religious traditions. The article also notes that “the color green is associated with Islam because it is believed to have been the Prophet Muhammad’s favorite color. It is said he wore a green cloak and turban, and his teachings reference the color. The Qur’an states that green will be worn by the inhabitants of paradise.”

Article 4 of the Constitution of Jordan specifies the form and dimensions of the Jordanian flag as follows:

“The length of the flag shall be twice its width. It shall be divided horizontally into three parallel and equal stripes, the uppermost of which shall be black, the center, white and the lowest, green. At the end of the flag-staff the flag shall have a red chevron, the base of which shall be equal to the flag’s width and the altitude of which shall be half of the flag’s length. In the chevron, there shall be a white seven-pointed star of such a size that it may be one-fourteenth of the flag’s length. The star shall be so placed that its center shall be at the intersection of the lines bisecting the angles of the chevron, and the axis running through one of its points shall be parallel to the base of the chevron.”

Date posted: August 29, 2023.

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