flag of Mauritania

Although Mauritania includes both black African and Arab-Berber populations, the official symbolism of the nation’s flag and coat of arms is associated with the latter. The flag’s green background and its star and crescent are traditional Muslim symbols, in use for centuries. The design is of the conservative type common before the 20th century and still used by such nations as Turkey, the Comoros, Tunisia, and the individual states of the United Arab Emirates. In many Arab countries, however, this type of design has been replaced by flags of more modern form, such as those based on the Arab Revolt Flag of 1917 and the Arab Liberation Flag of 1952, containing the four colours of traditional Arab dynasties (red, white, black, and green) in a tricolour form with either a triangle at the hoist or an emblem in the centre.

Mauritania was part of the French colonial empire until November 28, 1958, when an autonomous republic was established in order to meet rising nationalist expectations while preserving the French Community. The new national flag of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, replacing the French Tricolor, was adopted on April 1, 1959. There was no change to the design when Mauritania became an independent country on November 28, 1960.

In 2017 a new flag design was proposed that added two red bands to the existing flag—one at the top and one at the bottom—with the red signifying the blood that was shed in the struggle for freedom from France. Voters approved the proposed flag design via referendum on August 5, 2017, and it was adopted by the National Assembly on October 12, 2017. The new flag was raised for the first time at Independence Day celebrations on November 28, 2017.