^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Historical Flags (Qatar)

Overview
?-1860
1860-1916
1916
1932-1936
1936-1949
1949-1971
1971-

See also:

Overview

The first flag of Qatar was plain red. It was used until about 1860, when a narrow serrated white stripe was added at the hoist (some sources claim the stripe was not originally serrated). Around 1916 a white flag with a red square in the center and a yellow (some say red) crescent in the canton was in use. It seems this flag was short-lived and was soon replaced by the previous flag. Around 1932, the vertical serrated stripe was changed to a wavy stripe taking up about 1/5 the length of the flag, which was in ratio 1:2). and the red was then changed to dark red or violet. (William Crampton reports the undulated stripe was light yellow, probably because the original white color faded to light yellow because the use and the sun.)
Jaume Ollé, 14 Apr 2000

?-1860

image by Eugene Ipavec, 18 Feb 2012

The first flag of Qatar (used until about 1860) was plain red.
Jaume Ollé, 14 Apr 2000

1860-1916

image by Eugene Ipavec, 18 Feb 2012

In about 1860, a narrow serrated white stripe was added at the hoist (some sources claim the stripe was not originally serrated).
Jaume Ollé, 14 Apr 2000

1916

image by Eugene Ipavec, 18 Feb 2012

Around 1916, a white flag with a red square in the center and a yellow (some say red) crescent in the canton was in use. It seems this flag was short-lived and was soon replaced by the previous flag.
Jaume Ollé, 14 Apr 2000

This sounds a lot like the "white pierced red / No. 2 flag" of the Maritime Treaty of 1820, but why would it have been adopted so late?
Eugene Ipavec, 18 Feb 2012

1932-1936

image by Eugene Ipavec, 18 Feb 2012

1:2

Around 1932, the vertical serrated stripe was changed to a wavy stripe taking up about 1/5 the length of the flag, which was in ratio 1:2, and the red was then changed to dark red or violet. (William Crampton reports the undulated stripe was light yellow, probably because the original white color faded to light yellow because the use and the sun.)
Jaume Ollé, 14 Apr 2000

1936-1949

image by Eugene Ipavec, 18 Feb 2012

11:30

In about 1936 the violet field was changed to maroon with 9½ serrated points and 10 diamonds in the serration. The name of the state was written in white on the field. The ratio was 11:30.
Jaume Ollé, 14 April 2000

I have circa 1938 for the more elaborate flag...
Christopher Southworth, date unknown

As Depicted In 1939 Flaggenbuch

image by Željko Heimer, 26 February 2012

1:2?

Flaggenbuch 1939 [neu92] shows the flag with the hoist at viewer's right and a red field. Flaggenbuch uses more or less the same shade of red for all of the Gulf Arab states' flags (Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, the Trucial States), but the shades differ slightly among pages, probably due to printing or facsimiling process).
Ivan Sache, 02 May 2001

1949-1971

image by Eugene Ipavec, 18 Feb 2012

11:30

In 1949 the shade was slightly modified and the serration reached 1/3 of the fly. The diamonds were discarded.
Jaume Ollé, 14 April 2000

1971-

In 1971 (at independence) the current version of the flag was adopted, practically identical but with ratio 11:28.
Jaume Ollé, 14 April 2000