The True Meaning of the Flag
During the past several days, we saw the Jordanian flag proudly draped over cars, by entries to our houses and in the hands of our youth, proudly waving in defiance to those that want to destabilise our beloved land and shake our sense of security.
The Jordanian flag is not simply a visual graphic symbol of the country; it also has a symbolic meaning that transcends the obvious. The obvious describes a flag that consists of four colours and a star. Yes, it is a star, but we never stop to think whether is it more than a simple star; that it has seven points. How do we create this form from Euclidean geometry and why is the star harmoniously embedded in the centre of a crimson isosceles triangle? And why are the flag’s proportions two to one, width to height? But most important, what did those who decided on the seven as opposed to the five-point star want to convey?
What is the deeper meaning beyond the obvious form and colour? The pentagram, or five-point star, is a symbol of the ability to bring spirit to earth, to make us whole; it is a sign of reemerging enlightenment, not just a star!
The pinnacle, or top point of the star, is the grand symbol of spirit. Then, just below it, are the four remaining points that indicate the elements of air (intelligence), earth (stability and physical endurance), fire (courage and daring spirit) and water (emotions and intuitions). This is just one of many interpretations of this symbol.
In the same light, the 7-point star that our forefathers chose for our flag not only symbolises the seven hills that Amman was built on, but also the first seven verses of the Koran in the opening sura, Al Fatiha; faith in God (Verse 1), humanity (Verse 2), national spirit (Verse 3), humility (Verse 4), social justice (Verse 5), virtue (Verse 6), aspirations (Verse 7).
Talking about humility, whose antonym is arrogance, its synonyms are humbleness, modesty and unassuming nature. This word also symbolises a virtue that we have begun to bury deep beneath the material and whose true meaning we are not teaching our children by way of action.
Tolerance and compassion are by-products of humility, and truly sensing them will teach us to respect nature, animals and mankind, along with the forces beyond. These values are not easily regained if our leaders, teachers and parents fail to understand them, as what we do not understand, we cannot properly teach. But since we are the society, making up its leaders, teachers and parents, then no one is to blame but ourselves if we fail to educate the new generation to the true meanings of what is symbolised in this 7-point Islamic star that goes beyond the sacred teachings.
The star represents the unity of the Arab people, not their disunity and dismemberment in a sea of blood! The pure crimson isosceles triangle represents the Hashemite dynasty and symbolises the Great Arab Revolt of 1916, joining the three equal bands representing the Abbasid (black), Umayyad (white) and Fatimid (green) dynasties respectively.
It is the duty of every single parent, teacher and leader to work patiently towards teaching the true spirit, the true symbolic meaning of the Jordanian flag.
The writer is a Jordanian architect. She contributed this article to The Jordan Times.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
I don’t want to read all this i want to know what Each of color of the Jordan Flag stands for.
MckenZie..you got this far why get lazy now?
the pure crimson isosceles triangle represents the Hashemite dynasty and symbolises the Great Arab Revolt of 1916, joining the three equal bands representing the Abbasid (black), Umayyad (white) and Fatimid (green) dynasties respectively.
for most Arabian flags that have the black white and green bands they mean the same thing
I love this article, I searched through many websites to find the meaning of the 7-pointed star on the Jordanian flag. I finally stumbled onto this page which helped me find my answer. Thank you.
Black often represents determination, ethnic heritage, and/or defeating one’s enemies.
Green can symbolize the Earth, agriculture, fertility, and/or the Muslim religion
Red often represents courage, revolution, hardiness, blood, and/or valor
White often represents peace, purity, mountain snow, and/or innocence. A simple white flag represents surrender
Actually, this article says much; it’s the best of all I’ve read about the true meanings of the Jordanian flag. Ms Randa has done a great job in her detailed and thorough explanation of each part of the flag. I appreciate the time and efforts Aburayyan has endured to write such a masterpiece. In short, the article saves any researcher’s time and energy as everything has been put in such a way that wins the approval of the searcher.
Thank you very much, Ms Randa Aburayyan.
can i know for what do each colour of the Jordinian flag i need it like a paragraph for English subject writen in 12 or less than 12 lines thank you .
donia: refer to comment #2 by maha and then start writing. i have enough work on my plate.
😀
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL @”refer to comment #2 by maha and then start writing. i have enough work on my plate.”
Nas, you’ve just cracked me up! hehehehe
la2, mish bas haik… you’ve made my day, wallahi!! 😀
the website very good and very beautiful
HAhahah… I did too ! and I’ve come back several times to here just to re-read it … 😀
I have a mental image of what Nas looks like saying it … and Donia reacting to reading the response.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
I just can imagine Nas taking a break from his not-very-important-whatever-articles he writes for JB to do Donia’s Homework… LOOOOOOOL
Hey Nas, can you do me this favor?? ya3ni I got this homework.. ummm, that i gotta submit tomorrow.. ya3ni, bti3raf enta ana ma 3indi wa2t.. ya3niii eza entaaa fadiiiii!! hehehehehe 😀
So people STILL say “ya3ni” while speaking English in Jordan?
I always found that interesting.
Every single friend of mine says that word 2-3 times per phrase. This is blog-worthy.
For readers who don’t speak Arabic, “ya3ni” = “meaning”.
Right? lol
So it sounds something like “we should go to a, I mean, movie to, i mean, kill some time and then, i mean, go home”
It reminds me of the cursed “like” in the U.S.
Like, totally.
I find it hilarious that the comments fell off track and into the stop-everything-and-do-my-homework abyss on this flag post. The irony is killing me! Maybe we need to add a widget to the flag that represents the typical lazy-dependent-why-learn-anything average citizen – weave that into our national symbolism. ROFLMTO!!!!
Amer: yeah, people still do that… but i was overdoing it here particularly to serve the humorous purpose of my reply 😀
“Maybe we need to add a widget to the flag that represents the typical lazy-dependent-why-learn-anything average citizen – weave that into our national symbolism.”
this is just cracking me up and everybody around me at the “library” are wondering! hehehehe
typo
* is
A day later, I am back to laugh at this.
HAHAHAHA!
The Jordan flag features three horizontal bands. The three colors used in the flag are black, white and green respectively. The color black stands for Abbasid Caliphate of Islam, white stands for the Umayyad Caliphate of Islam and the color green stands for Fatimid Caliphate of Islam.
All these three bands in the flag of Jordan are connected to a red colored symmetrical triangle representing the Great Arab Revolt in 1916. The triangle also represents the Hashemite dynasty.
A white star with seven points is featured on the hoist side of the red triangle. The seven points symbolizes the seven verses of Islamic belief, which is mentioned at the beginning of Qur’an. The seven points represent faith in one God, humanity, humility, national spirit, virtue, social justice and aspiration. The star also stands for the unity of the people of Arab. According to some people it refers to the seven hills on which the capital city Amman was built.
what do the colors stand 4
Who wrote that and what does the colors stand for
WOW! THIS ARTICLE IS AMAZING!
GOOD JOB!
And where’s the source to any of these claims??!?
As far as I know the flag used during the “Arab revolution” of 1916
Is the same as the Palestinian flag used today… Only the stripes are in different order.
Everything I read here makes no sense at all since the red triangle has been in use during the “revolution”, so how can it be used afterwards to represent this event, like it was invented after the revolution. It’s funny how every one is buying into this article with information that has no source or foundation what so ever.
Surah al Fatiha is seven verses, that’s a fact…
But for the star to represent al Fatiha is a joke.
Since when did a seven point star become Islamic??!?
Another fact. how about the seven point star representing the 7 skies that Jordan is under…
Or 7 continents… Or my personal favorite 7 hills Amman is built on LoL
Hahahaha…are we still talking about the flag of Jordan? Seems like that would be the flag of Amman.
This article is a joke, the architect that wrote this should stick to drawing blueprints…
Instead of drawing ideas out of the blue.
Recently discovered… 7 point star represents the seven billboards that the king Abdullah is frowning on. He looks like an ant eater crawled up his royal Anglo-Arab arse. If they put up another picture of him to frown on ppl with, I’ll find something else the seven point star will represent.
R u catching my drift?
It’s a magical star that represents anything in 7’s…
Forgot to mention a seven point star is also a Masonic symbol. Scratch ur head now. Make sure u do it seven times… So the seven point star can represent how many times u scratched ur head.
Thank you Read for you remarks….This article was originally inspired by a mini project for 1st year design students for intuition, symbolic meanings and geometry. It was written and submitted to the Jordan Times (and somewhat oddly re-edited) shortly after the 2005 suicide bombings in Amman….and yes all symbols are subject to interpretations. There are no facts, only perceived realities and I respect your somewhat angry perception of reality, a reflection of our current times. Unfortunately sarcasm and anger will get us no where. Perhaps you may sit and attempt to draw a 7 pointed star, it is a soothing and sobering exercise.
Randa November 2013