Drag to pan · scroll to zoom · click a country to open it
About
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about 2,150,000 km2 (830,000 sq mi), making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the largest in the Middle East, and the twelfth-largest in the world. It is bordered by the Red Sea to the west; Jordan, Iraq, and Kuwait to the north; the Persian Gulf, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to the east; Oman to the southeast; and Yemen to the south. The Gulf of Aqaba in the northwest separates Saudi Arabia from Egypt and Israel. Saudi Arabia is the only country with a coastline along both the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, and most of its terrain consists of arid desert, lowland, steppe, and mountains. The capital and largest city is Riyadh; other major cities include Jeddah and the two holiest cities in Islam, Mecca and Medina. With a population of 33.7 million, Saudi Arabia is the sixth most populous country in the Arab world.
Read more on Wikipedia →The Flag
History
The national flag of Saudi Arabia is a green background with Arabic inscription and a sword in white. The inscription is the Islamic creed, or shahada: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God". The current design has been used by the government of Saudi Arabia since 15 March 1973.
Design & symbolism
The flag's green background represents Islam, and the sword stands for safety and justice. The flag is manufactured with identical obverse and reverse sides, to ensure the shahada reads correctly, from right to left, from either side. The sword also points to the left on both sides, in the direction of the script. The usual color of the flag's green was approximated by Album des pavillons as Pantone 330 C, while the color used on flags at United Nations is approximately Pantone 349. At the 2012 London Olympics, Pantone 355 was used. The King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Archives (Darah) has clarified that attributing the Saudi flag's design to Hafiz Wahba is a common mistake. Darah stated that the design evolved from the First Saudi State until it was finalized by the Shura Council and officially approved by King Abdulaziz. The background of the flag is green (Pantone 3425C or Pantone 19-6026 TCX) with the Shahada (in the Thuluth script) and sword drawn in white. The Shahada is 24 units long and 8 units wide, and the sword is centered with the length of 18 units. There is a dot next to the handle of said sword. The total length of the flag is 48 units, and the total…
Text from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photos
