Flag of Israel
Asia
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Jerusalem
- Flag adopted
- 1948
- Population
- 10,134,800
- Area
- 21,937 km²
- Languages
- Arabic, Hebrew
- Currency
- Israeli new shekel (₪) — ILS
- Demonym
- Israeli
- Government
- parliamentary democracy
- Subregion
- Western Asia
- Driving side
- Right
- Timezones
- UTC+02:00
- Independence
- 1948
Religions
- Jewish 73.5%
- Muslim 18.1%
- Other 4.9%
- Christian 1.9%
- Druze 1.6%
About This Flag
The flag of Israel features a white field with two horizontal blue stripes near the top and bottom edges, and a blue Star of David (Magen David) centered between them. The design is based on the traditional Jewish prayer shawl (tallit), which features blue-bordered white cloth.
The Star of David has been a symbol of Jewish identity since the Middle Ages and became widely associated with Zionism in the late 19th century. The flag was adopted on October 28, 1948, five months after the declaration of independence, though the basic design had been used by the Zionist movement since the First Zionist Congress in 1897.
What the colors & design mean
The blue and white colors are derived from the Jewish prayer shawl (tallit) and have long been associated with the Jewish people. The Star of David (a six-pointed star formed by two overlapping triangles) has been a symbol of Jewish identity and community since at least the 17th century.
Pattern: Horizontal Stripes
Bordering countries (5)
Fun Facts
- The flag's design was essentially created by the Zionist movement in 1897 at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland — over 50 years before the state of Israel was established.
- The exact shade of blue has never been officially defined by law, leading to variations in practice, though a medium blue is most commonly used.
- The Star of David became the predominant symbol of Jewish identity relatively recently in historical terms — it was widely adopted only in the 17th-19th centuries, while the menorah is a much older Jewish symbol.
- Israel's flag is one of the few national flags whose design was established by a political movement decades before the nation itself was founded.
Similar looking flags
These flags share similar colors and patterns:
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