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Syria

Sūriya, Syrian Arab Republic, Al-Jumhūriyyah al-Arabiyyah as-Sūriyyah

2:3
image by Eugene Ipavec, 31 May 2007

Official Name: الجمهورية العربية السورية [Al-Jumhūriyyah al-Arabiyyah as-Sūriyyah], Syrian Arab Republic
Short Form: سوريا or سورية [Sūriya], Syria
Capital: Damascus
Location: Middle East
Government Type: Republic
Flag Adopted: 1958 (abandoned 1961, readopted 30 Mar 1980)
Coat of Arms Adopted: unknown
ISO Code: SY SYR 760
FIPS 10-4 Code: SY
MARC Code: sy
IOC Code: SYR
Risk of confusion with: Iraq, Yemen, Egypt, Sudan

Introduction
Meaning of the Colours
Vertical Flag
Flag Variants
Presidential Flag
Military Flags
Aircraft Markings
Subnational Flags:
- Damascus Governorate (Muhafazah Dimashq)
- Al Hasakah Governorate (Muhafazah Al Hasakah)
Historical Flags:
Political Parties:
- Ba'ath Party
- Syrian Communist Party
Ethnic and Cultural Groups:
Educational Institutions:
- International University for Science & Technology (Oum El Qusur)
NGOs:
- Syrian Environmental Association
Houseflags of Shipping Companies:
- Samin Line
- Al Fadel Shipping
Teshreen Sport Club (Latakia)

See also:

United Arab Republic (Egypt & Syria, 1958 - 1961)
Federation of Arab Republics (Egypt, Libya & Syria, 1972 - 1977)
Municipalities in the Golan Heights Occupied Territories (Israel)
Syriac Orthodox Church
Syrian Social Nationalist Party (Lebanon)
League of Arab States (Arab League)
Pan-Arab Colours
Flags of Neighboring Countries

Other sites:

Subnational flags: Syria at Dirk Schönberger's Administrative Divisions of the World website
Universities of Syria/Lebanon

Introduction

There are quite a lot of flags in Syria: not only on official buildings you always find the national flag and mostly the Ba'ath Party flag, but also on private buildings. In the Suqs there are lines with many little flags, often alternating the national flag and the Ba'ath Party flag. However, there are certainly some regional differences: In Damascus you see a lot of flags, also in the Suq; in the second-largest city, Aleppo, there are no flags in the Suq, but there are islamic writings (for example the Shahada, as in the Saudi flag) hanging from the lines just as the little flags in the Damascus Suq; in Homs you can see the little triangular flags; in the parts along the Euphrates, for example near Der-ez-Zor, I saw some national flags without stars. However, there seem to be no regional flags or city flags.

Marcus Schmöger, 01 May 1997

Meaning of the Colours

[Ed.: see also Pan-Arab Colours for a historical explanation of the colours.]

Red symbolizes the struggle and sacrifice for freedom; white signifies peace; and black stands for the dark colonial past.

Source: Crampton 1985.

Jarig Bakker, 21 Jul 1999

Vertical Flag [Click on image for full size]

4:1

Besides the normal horizontal usage of the flag you can see it displayed vertically as well, be it painted on a wall or hanging on a building. The vertical examples are usually quite long (proportions from 3:1 up to 8:1).

Marcus Schmöger, 01 May 1997

image by Marcus Schmöger

Flag Variants [Click on images for full size]

The national flag of Syria, as we know, is shown in a lot of different variants in Syria. There are four main variables in which individual flags can differ from one another.

The first variable is proportion: this should be 2:3, but you can see 1:2 as well:

image by Marcus Schmöger
The second variable is orientation of stars: they can point upwards (as in the FOTW Syrian flag), downwards, to the hoist or to the fly:

image by Marcus Schmöger image by Marcus Schmöger image by Marcus Schmöger
The third variable is size of stars: sometimes they have only the size of a third or a fifth of a stripe width:

image by Marcus Schmöger image by Marcus Schmöger
The fourth variable is location of stars: above they are spaced one third of the flag length from each other, but you can see them spaced a half of the flag length from each other as well:

image by Marcus Schmöger
Furthermore, I also saw flags without any stars:

image by Marcus Schmöger