The flag of Morocco (علم المغرب) is the official flag used by the government and has served as the national flag since November 17, 1915. It features a red field with a green pentagram at its center.
Historical Significance of the Colors
Red holds considerable historic significance in Morocco due to its association with the Alawi dynasty, which used a red field as its flag. The ruling house was linked to the Islamic prophet Muhammad through Fatima, the wife of Ali, the fourth Muslim Caliph.
Red was also the color used by the sharifs of Mecca and the imams of Yemen.
Evolution of the Flag
In the Early Middle Ages, during the westward expansion of Islamic armies across Africa, traditions concerning flags were established that continue to influence flags in use today. Muslim forces favoured large military flags of plain colours that they associated with specific dynasties. The field of a typical flag was covered with stylized ornamentation and/or inscriptions from the Qurʾān. Even when the ruling dynasties of Morocco, the “Farthest West,” were independent of control from Cairo or Istanbul, their flags were characterized by a single colour (usually red or white), with or without inscriptions.
During the period of French and Spanish control in the 20th century, the red flag with the pentagram remained in use inland, but its use at sea was prohibited.
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The Introduction of the Pentagram
The plain red flag that had been displayed by the ships of Morocco was modified by the French on November 17, 1915. To its centre was added the ancient pentagram known as the Seal, or Pentacle, of Solomon.
The pentagram has a long history in ancient cultures over wide geographic and religious areas, and its meanings are quite different from the five-pointed star of modern flags, first popularized by the United States.
Hidden meaning behind the Morocco Flag | History, Meaning & Design
Detailed Specifications
The legal definition of the flag specifies that the colours are bright red and palm green. The star shall be open, palm green, made of five continuous branches and woven in the same fabric where it must be visible on both sides of the flag. The star is inscribed in an invisible circle whose radius equals one sixth (1⁄6) of the flag's fly and whose centre is the intersection point of the invisible diagonal lines of the flag's rectangular shape.
No more precise colour specifications are known to be published.
Flag Facts
- The flag’s width-to-length ratio is 2 to 3.
- On 8 May 2010, a Moroccan flag with a size of 60,409.78 square metres (650,000 sq ft; 14.9 acres), weighing 20,000 kilograms (22 short tons), was set in Dakhla, a city in the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
The largest Moroccan flag in Dakhla in 2010.
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Symbolism and Berber Heritage
Sometimes local symbols-including the Sword of ʿAlī, the Hand of Fāṭimah, or the crescent and star-were introduced, although some of these were based on Berber heritage, which long predated Islam.
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