The current flag of Sudan was adopted on 20 May 1970 and consists of a horizontal red-white-black tricolour with a green triangle at the hoist. The flag is based on the Arab Liberation Flag shared by Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Syria and Yemen that uses a subset of the Pan-Arab colours in which green is less significant. Prior to the 1969 military coup of Gaafar Nimeiry, a blue-yellow-green tricolour design was used. The Sudanese flag is the only flag that uses 1:2 and the Egyptian, Iraqi, Syrian and Yemeni flags all use 2:3
Symbolism
According to World Flags 101:
Government and armed forces flags
Government flags
Armed forces flags
Historical flags
Mahdist Revolt
In 1881, at the beginning of the Mahdist War, the Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad appointed Abdallahi ibn Muhammad as one of his four caliphs and handed him a black flag. Abdallahi used his black flag to recruit Baggara Arabs and other tribes from the west. The other caliphs used differently coloured flags. The black horizontal stripe in the current Sudanese flag is a reference to this Mahdist-era black flag.
Between 1899 and 1956, Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was administered jointly as a condominium by Egypt and the United Kingdom. The condominium did not have its own flag; instead the flag of Egypt and the flag of the United Kingdom were always flown together, with the British flag taking precedence. A flag did exist as a rank flag for the British Governor General of the Sudan. In common with the rank flags of governors and commissioners of other British overseas territories, it consisted of a Union Flag defaced with a white disk bearing the territory's badge or coat of arms, surrounded by a wreath of laurel. As no badge or coat of arms existed for Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the disk instead contained the words "GOVERNOR GENERAL OF THE SUDAN". At the Afro–Asian Conference held between 18 and 24 April 1955, Sudan was represented by a white flag bearing the name "SUDAN" in red capital letters.
Upon independence from Egypt and the United Kingdom on 1 January 1956, Sudan adopted a blue-yellow-green tricolour as its national flag. This flag was designed by the poet Macki Sufi and remained in use until 1970, when the current flag was adopted. The colours of the flag represented the River Nile, the Sahara and farmlands. They were chosen as they were neutral between ethnic groups and political parties. Use of this flag resurfaced during the 2018–19 Sudanese protests.
Following a coup d'état in May 1969, the country was renamed the Democratic Republic of the Sudan and a competition was held to design a new flag. The winning entry was designed by artist Abdel Rahman Ahmed Al-Jali and was adopted as the national flag in May 1970.
