Qatar

قطر, State of Qatar, دولة قطر,

Last modified: 2012-03-03 by eugene ipavec
Keywords: qatar | asia | serration | zig-zag | indented | persian gulf | diamonds: 10 (red) |
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11:28
image by Željko Heimer and Eugene Ipavec, 07 Dec 2002 and 19 Feb 2012

Official Name: دولة قطر [Dawlat Qaṭar], State of Qatar
Short Form: قطر [Qaṭar], Qatar
Capital: Doha
Location: Middle East
Government Type: Absolute Monarchy
Flag Adopted: 09 Jul 1971
Coat of Arms Adopted: 1976
ISO Code: QA / QAT 634
FIPS 10-4 Code: QA
MARC Code: qa
IOC Code: QAT (formerly Q)
Risk of confusion with: Bahrain

• National Flag:
  • Description
  • Construction Sheet
  • Unofficial Variants
  • The Qatar / Bahrain Similarity
• National Emblem
• Historic Flags
• Armed Forces
  
  
• Al Jazeera
• Scout and Guide Association of Qatar
• Unidentified Flags of Qatar

• Flags of Neighboring Countries:
  • Bahrain
  • Saudi Arabia
• United Arab Emirates
• General Maritime Treaty of 1820
• Gulf Cooperation Council
• League of Arab States (Arab League)

Description: Maroon flag with a white serrated (zigzag) stripe at the hoist
Proportions: 11:28 (very often 2:3 or 3:5)
Use: On land, national, civil and war flag, at sea, national, civil and war ensign.
Colour-approximate specifications (as given in Album des Pavillons [pay00]):

• Maroon: Pantone 222 c / CMYK (%) C 0 – M 100 – Y 15 – K 60

contributor and date unknown

image by Željko Heimer and Eugene Ipavec, 07 Dec 2002 and 19 Feb 2012

Album des Pavillons [pay00] provides the construction details as 11:(8+2+18). There are nine white points in the serration.

Željko Heimer, 07 December 2002

Despite the near-vilification of this flag over its individualistic approach to proportions (11:28, a reflection of a "do your own thing" view of national policy?), there is a fascinating story here.

At first glance, the Qatar flag seems remarkably similar to the flag of Bahrain. Both have the distinctive serrated margin between the white band at the hoist and the "red" fly. The proportions set them apart (Bahrain 3:5) and the colors differ, with Bahrain being a standard "British" red (they, after all, had a strong and "involved" British adviser throughout the 1930s) and Qatar the distinctive "maroon." This similarity reflects an intertwined history.

To make a long and involved story very short, the histories of the two states have overlapped and occasionally collided since the 18th century. The distinctive Qatari flag emerged in the 1930s (official adoption of the maroon color came about 1949).

Bahrain's flag as we know it now was formally adopted in 1932 and the Qatari differences in size and color (said to be what becomes of red as it fades in the Gulf sun – a fanciful tale) seem to be largely an effort to make the Qatar flag different from the Bahraini banner.

Ed Haynes, 29 January 1996

3:5
image by Eugene Ipavec, 28 Feb 2012

Unofficial Qatari flags with more conventional proportions than the official 11:28 are in common use, like this 3:5 example.

Eugene Ipavec, 28 January 2012

image by Wikipedia User:Tonyjeff