Middle East

Flag of Israel

Israel is a small Middle Eastern country on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, established in 1948 as the world's only Jewish-majority state and the historical homeland of the Jewish people. Jerusalem, its proclaimed capital, is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities and is sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Israel has developed one of the world's most innovative technology sectors, often called 'Silicon Wadi,' with more startup companies per capita than almost any other nation.

CapitalJerusalem
RegionMiddle East
Current flag since1948
Main coloursBlue, White
Populationabout 9.7 million
Areaabout 22,000 km²
Flags in history3

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of Israel means

The flag is based on the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, which is white with blue stripes. The blue Star of David, the Magen David, has been a Jewish symbol for centuries. The design was used by the Zionist movement from the late 19th century and was adopted as the flag of Israel in October 1948.

How to recognise it

White with two horizontal blue stripes and a blue Star of David in the centre.

Did you know?

Israel has more museums per capita than any other country in the world.

Easily confused with

Israel's flag is often mixed up with these. Learn to tell them apart:

Uruguay

Honduras

Flag history of Israel

Every flag that has flown over Israel, from today back through time.

1948–present

State of Israel

Israel's flag — a white field with two horizontal blue stripes and a blue Star of David at the centre — was adopted on October 28, 1948, five months after independence. The design, proposed by David Wolffsohn at the First Zionist Congress in 1897, was inspired by the Jewish prayer shawl (tallit), which is traditionally white with blue or black stripes. The Star of David (Magen David) had been used as a Jewish symbol for centuries but became a Zionist emblem specifically in the late 19th century. Israel is the only country whose flag is directly based on a religious garment.

1920–1948

British Mandate of Palestine

From 1920 to 1948, the territory was governed under a British League of Nations Mandate. The Mandate flag was a British Blue Ensign defaced with a white circle bearing a green "Palestine" inscription. This flag flew over a deeply contested territory where Jewish immigration under Zionist movement auspices clashed violently with the existing Arab population and with British administration, culminating in Britain's withdrawal and Israel's declaration of independence in 1948.

1517–1917

Ottoman Palestine

For 400 years, from 1517 until General Allenby's capture of Jerusalem in 1917, the land was governed by the Ottoman Empire and flew the Ottoman red star-and-crescent. Administered as part of the provinces (vilayets) of Beirut and the special district of Jerusalem, it was a quiet agricultural backwater for most of that period. The late-19th-century rise of Zionism and the simultaneous awakening of Arab nationalism set the stage for the conflicts that followed Ottoman rule.