Jordan flag is the national flag of Jordan, an Arab kingdom east of the Jordan River in the Middle East. The flag of Jordan has three horizontal stripes of equal width—black on top, white in the middle, and green on the bottom. At the hoist (side of the flag nearest the flagpole) is a red triangle with a seven-pointed star at its center.
Most Jordanians are Arabs and followers of the religion of Islam. The symbolism of Jordan’s flag reflects this heritage. The seven points of the white star symbolize the first seven verses of the Qur’ān, the holy book of Islam. The red triangle represents the Hashemite dynasty (family of rulers), which has ruled Jordan since 1921. The Hashemite family traces its ancestry back to Muhammad, the prophet whose life and teachings form the basis of Islam. The three stripes on Jordan’s flag stand for three historical dynasties that once ruled Arab Muslim empires based in the Middle East. The white stripe is for the Umayyads (A.D. 661-750), black for the Abbāsids (A.D. 750-1258), and green for the Fātimids (A.D. 909-1171).
The Jordanian flag is based on the flag of an Arab revolt that began during World War I (1914-1918). The revolt, led by Sharīf Hussein of Mecca, helped end the Ottoman Empire’s rule over parts of the Middle East. The flag of the revolt had three stripes—black, white, and green, though originally in a different order—and a red triangle at the hoist.
After World War I, the area that is now Jordan came under British administration. The British made it a partly self-governing principality called Transjordan. Hussein’s son Abdullah became emir (prince) of Transjordan in 1921 and king in 1928. He adopted the flag of the Arab revolt, to which he added the white star, as Transjordan’s flag. Transjordan became fully independent in 1946. It was renamed Jordan in 1949.
