The New Flag of Syria: Why Did Red Change to Green and a Star Was Added?

After the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, a new flag has been raised at government offices across the country. Many Syrian embassies in various countries have also lowered the previous flag and hoisted the new one, which traces its roots back to the third decade of the last century. What is the story of this flag, and what changes have its colors and details undergone over the decades? The three-colored green, white, and black flag with three red stars in the center (on the white part) was raised by the opponents of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the ousted president of Syria, since the beginning of their protests in 2011. However, this flag is not new; its roots go back to the French mandate period over Syria and was first raised in 1932. In this flag, the green color symbolizes the fertility of Syrian soil, the white color symbolizes peace, the black color symbolizes the colonial period and the sacrifices of Syrians in fighting against it, and the three red stars on the white background symbolize the unity of the three regions of Damascus, Aleppo, and Deir ez-Zor. Before the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime, the official Syrian flag was three colors: red, white, and black, but with two green stars in the white section of the flag. The roots of this flag date back to the period of unity between Syria and Egypt from 1958 to 1961, where the two green stars symbolized the two countries, Syria and Egypt. After the collapse of the unity between Syria and Egypt, this flag was set aside, but in 1963, following a military coup by Nazim al-Qudsi, the former president of Syria, which led to the rise of the Ba'ath Party, this flag was once again introduced as the official flag of Syria, with one change: the two green stars were replaced by three green stars. In this flag, the red color symbolizes the blood of martyrs, the white color symbolizes the Umayyad rule, the black color symbolizes the Abbasid rule, and the green stars symbolize the Fatimid rule. Hafez al-Assad, the father of Bashar al-Assad, chose a flag similar to Egypt's after taking the presidency of Syria in 1972: red, white, and black, with the image of the 'Eagle of Quraish' emblazoned in the white section. The 'Eagle of Quraish' is one of the symbols of Arab nationalism used in the flags of several Arab countries, including Egypt. However, in 1980, Hafez al-Assad once again chose the flag from the period of unity with Egypt (with two green stars) as the official flag of Syria; a symbol that remained the official flag of Syria until the end of his son Bashar al-Assad's rule. The Kurdish authorities in parts of northeastern Syria also announced on December 13 that they would raise the three-star green flag used by the rebels ruling Damascus in all offices, institutions, councils, and other places affiliated with the Kurdish government in the region.