Last modified: 2010-02-27 by dov gutterman
Keywords: druze | jebel druze | israel | sultan pasha | unidentified flag | magen david | star: 6 points (outlined) | star (faceted) |
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images by Dov Gutterman and David
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The Druze people are 400,000 living in Syria
(mainly in the area of Jabal ad-Duruz or Druze Mountains), Lebanon and Israel. The Druze flag is the same
in all of them.
Dov Gutterman, 1 October 1998
During my visit of 2 October 2001 to Mas'ade,
the only flags I spotted were Druze flags in 1:1 ratio. When I
visited Peqi'in (Buqei'a) in the
Galilee, I saw the same flag.
Dov Gutterman, 21 October 2001
During my surfing in Hebrew sites I found a black and white picture showing the flag of
the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Druze
soldiers in 1948. The picture is in the Druze page at
Snunit site which is the Jerusalem University site. The flag
has four horizontal stripes and a triangle with a Magen David on
it. I saw the real IDF flag and the order of stripes is the same
as the regular Druze flag (red-yellow-blue-white with a white
Magen David on the green hoist triangle).
Dov Gutterman, 8 September 1998 and 9 May 1999
image by Eugene Ipavec, 22 December 2009
My brother, Eli Gutterman, sent me a link to a short
film that was taken in Israel in 1951. The film was sponsored by
Air France but it is narrated in English. It is a little over 9
minutes and can be seen at <www.readme.co.il>.
Close to its end, there are scenes from a celebration in the
Druze village of Beit Jann in which a
unique flag is seen.
The flag is a combination of Druze symbols ((sword, crescents,
the inscription in Arabic "Sultan Basha" (a.k.a Sultan
Pasha al-Atrash - a legendary Druze figure and the
leader of the Druze revolt of 1925)) and the Israeli Magen David.
Dov Gutterman, 22 October 2008
image contributed by Zvi Ruder
I received a fax from Zvi Ruder with a photo of
Israeli Druze flag, which I never saw before. I scan the photo
which is in poor condition after being processed through fax
machine. The Arabic inscription on the flag is Sultan Basha
[=Pasha] which is the name of a famous Druze leader.
Dov Gutterman, 13 September 1999
In the Flags of Aspirant
Peoples chart appears "28. Druzes - Israel".
Horizontal green-red-yellow-blue-white with a white solid Magen
David shifted to upper fly (centered on red stripe). Since our
experts from Israel report something rather different, I assume this flag is a mistake.
Ivan Sache, 13 September 1999
There is no way it can have a light blue stripe unless
somebody saw a faded flag. It should be dark blue like the image at the top. As I mentioned already, this is
a probably ad-hoc flag, and I never saw one like it.
Dov Gutterman, 14 September 1999
Zvi Ruder sent me some information from a report by Günter Mattern of Switzerland and Jarig Bakker translated it:
Lebanon - Druzes
Sheikh Bahshatti Gheith took his seat of honor in the Majlis, the parliamentary room, flanked by two 5-pointed stars, of which each point had a different color blue, green, yellow, red, white. The 5 colours symbolize the 5 pillars of Islam. Source: Neue Züricher Zeitung, Nr. 103, 4/5 5 96, p. 78
Well, such a star is in common use also in Israel. There is
one in the Israel
Druze Society website. I may add that there are at least two explanations for the colour scheme. I
think the logo-flag in that site [as in the above GIF] is the
author's invention by combining the two symbols [flag and star]
together.
Dov Gutterman, 13 September 1999