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Algeria

al Djazair - Democratic and Popular Algerian Republic

by Zeljko Heimer

Flag adopted 3 July 1962, coat of arms adopted 1 November 1976.
Proportion: 2:3.
Description: Flag vertically divided green-white with a red crescent and star in the middle.
Use: on land, national, civil and war flag, on sea, national and civil ensign.

Colour approximate specifications (as given in Album des Pavillons [pay00]):

Green: Pantone 356 c / CMYK (%) C 100 - M 0 - Y 90 - K 25
Red: Pantone 186 c / CMYK (%) C 0 - M 90 - Y 80 - K 5

On this page:

Official description of the flag
History of the flag
Naval ensign
Presidential flag (unconfirmed)

See also:

Algeria: Index of all related pages

Official description of the flag

by Zeljko Heimer

The national flag of Algeria is officially described as follows:

Features

The flag of the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria is constituted by a green and white rectangle embossed by a red star and a red crescent.

Colours

The green must be a composition of equal yellow and blue having, according to the diagram of contrasts of Rood, a wavelength of 5.411 and the position 600 on the normal spectre. The red must be pure, of primary non-decomposable colour, and exempt of blue and yellow having, according to the above-indicated diagram, a wavelength of 6.562 and the position 285 on the normal spectre.

Proportions and disposition

The length of the rectangle is equal to one and half its width (height of the flag). This rectangle is divided according to the small median in two halves. The green colour half is placed inside, against the shaft.
The white colour half is placed outside.

The star has five branches. It is inscribed in a circle whose radius is equal to the eighth of the height of the flag. It is entirely placed on the white field of the flag; two points are on the small median of the rectangle and a point is on the big median.

The radius of the outside circle of the crescent is equal to the quarter of the height of the flag.
The radius of the inner circle of the crescent is equal to the fifth of the height of the flag. The two points of the crescent delimit a big equal bow to the five sixth of the circumference of the outside circle.

The centre of the outside circle of the crescent is in the centre of the rectangle.

Thanh-Tâm Lê, 2 January 1999

History of the flag

The flag was first officially hoisted on 3 July 1962. The flag is said to be a variation of the flag of liberation forces of Abd el-Kader in 1837-1847, but there is no proof of that.

Zeljko Heimer, 28 November 1995

According to Dorling-Kindersley flag book [udk97], "...the flag was adopted by the National Liberation Front in 1954, based on an older design, created in 1928 by the nationalist leader Messali Hadj. From 1958 - 1962 it was the flag of the provisional government in exile, but was retained when independence was achieved in 1962 and has remained unchanged ever since."

Meanings of the colors are:

Green for Islam
White for purity.

According to Herzog and Hannes [heh90], the white color also reminds of Abd al-Kadir, who used a white flag in his fight against the French in 1847.

Volker Moerbitz Keith, 11 April 2000

Naval ensign

by Jaume Ollé & Pascal Gross

National flag with two red fouled anchors crosed in saltire in canton.

Source: Album des Pavillons [pay00]

Presidential flag (unconfirmed)

The list of the Algerian Heads of State since the independence is as following:

1962-1963 Ferhat Abbas (Chairman of the Parliament)
1963-1965 Ahmed ben Bella (President)
1965-1976 Houari Boumediene (Chairman of the Council of the Revolution)
1976-1978 Houari Boumediene (President)
1978-1979 Rabah Bitat (acting)
1979-1992 Chadli Bendjedid (President)
1992-1992 Mohammed Boudiaf (Chairman of the High Committee of State)
1992-1994 Ali Kafi (Chairman of the High Committee of State)
1994-1999 Liamine Zeroual (President)
1999- Abdelaziz Bouteflika (President)

by Jaume Ollé

In 1979, President Benjedid appears on a photograph together with a variant of the national flag that may be the Presidential flag. An identical flag was also reported as a possible presidential flag by a correspondent of Aldo Zigiotto.

Jaume Ollé, 24 December 2001, translated by Joe McMillan

by Jaume Ollé

In the nineties, a Presidential flag was reported by J.L. Cepero on 23 March1999, seen at Presidential facilities on Algerian television. The inscription says Algeria and was confirmed by Algerian sources. The above image is approximate.

Jaume Ollé, 24 December 2001, translated from Spanish by Joe McMillan