--- title: Palestinian Flag History: Here's How It Came To Be description: The Palestinian flag was raised Wednesday at the U.N., after a vote by the U.N. General Assembly to allow the action canonical: https://time.com/4056052/palestinian-flag-history/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-30T18:14:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:24:08.950Z article:section: History og:title: Palestinian Flag History: Here's How It Came To Be og:description: The Palestinian flag was raised Wednesday at the U.N. og:url: https://time.com/4056052/palestinian-flag-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5289324dc141e51/6988663fcf40a83417c3ffd0/flag.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Palestinian Flag og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Palestinian Flag History: Here's How It Came To Be twitter:description: The Palestinian flag was raised Wednesday at the U.N. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5289324dc141e51/6988663fcf40a83417c3ffd0/flag.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's How the Palestinian Flag Came to Be ## Video: Watch the Palestinian Flag Rise at the U.N. For the First Time [Watch (HLS stream): Watch the Palestinian Flag Rise at the U.N. For the First Time](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JhobYie1.m3u8) (0:21)  _Published 2015-09-30. Watch the Palestinian Flag Rise at the U.N. For the First Time_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 30, 2015 6:14 PM UTC  Palestinians wave their flags as they watch a live-screening of president Mahmud Abbas' speech followed by the raising of the Palestinian flag at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, on Sept. 30, 2015 in the city of Ramallah. Palestinians wave their flags as they watch a live-screening of president Mahmud Abbas' speech followed by the raising of the Palestinian flag at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, on Sept. 30, 2015 in the city of Ramallah.Abbas Momani—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 30, 2015 6:14 PM UTC The Palestinian flag was [raised](http://time.com/4055907/watch-palestinian-flag-united-nations/) Wednesday at the United Nations after a vote by the U.N. General Assembly earlier this month [approved](http://time.com/4030801/united-nations-palestine-flag-israel/?xid=homepage) the action. This year will mark the first time the flag will fly outside the U.N., but the flag’s history stretches back a century to the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. During World War I, Arabs in the region banded together to fight against the Ottoman Turks who had been ruling various land in area for centuries. They hoped to establish their own country under Arab leadership. Their flag was designed for that rebellion by Hussein bin Ali, the ruler of Mecca and leader of the revolt, according to the [Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs](http://www.passia.org/palestine%5Ffacts/meaning%5Fof%5Fflag.htm). Each of three stripes and the one triangle were intended to represent different Arab dynasties. Later, the order of the stripes was changed. (Per [_Encyclopedia Britannica_](http://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Palestine-Liberation-Organization#ref855177), the new order helped visibility.) The Palestine Liberation Organization adopted that flag as its own in 1964\. In the early 1990s, a ban on the flag in Israel was [lifted](http://time.com/vault/issue/1994-02-21/page/38/). Those who know their flags well will also realize that the flag is very similar to the flags of Sudan and Jordan. Both of those countries adopted their own flags (Sudan in 1969 and Jordan in 1928) to signal their support for a unified pan-Arab country. At the time of the revolt in 1917, rebels hoped that the flag would eventually represent a united Arab state that would include modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestinian territories. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4056052/palestinian-flag-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4056052/palestinian-flag-history/"},"headline":"Here's How the Palestinian Flag Came to Be","datePublished":"2015-09-30T18:14:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:24:08.950Z","description":"Its design is a century old","url":"https://time.com/4056052/palestinian-flag-history/","keywords":["World"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5289324dc141e51/6988663fcf40a83417c3ffd0/flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf5289324dc141e51/6988663fcf40a83417c3ffd0/flag.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Palestinian Flag","caption":"PALESTINIAN-UN-FLAG","creditText":"Abbas Momani—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4056052/palestinian-flag-history/","name":"Here's How the Palestinian Flag Came to Be"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch the Palestinian Flag Rise at the U.N. 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