Bahrain - Current

The national flag of Bahrain (Arabic: علم البحرين‎) consists of a white band on the left, separated from a red area on the right by five triangles that serve as a serrated line. Red is the traditional colour for flags of the Persian Gulf states. The white is on the hoist side; the five points represent the five pillars of Islam.

The oldest known flags of Bahrain were plain red. In 1820, Bahrain signed a treaty with Great Britain, and a white stripe was added to the flag to indicate the truce. In 1932, a serrated edge was added to distinguish the flag of Bahrain from those of its neighbours. The flag originally had twenty-eight white points, but this was reduced to eight in 1972. In 2002 the number of triangles was again reduced to five, so that each of the points could stand for one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The new flag was officially adopted on 14th February 2002.

The ratio of the national flag was changed from de facto 2:3 to prescribed 3:5.

The colours of the flag are approximated as Red, Pantone 186 c, CMYK (%) C 0 - M 90 - Y 80 - K 5.