Syria's flag changed for the first time in over four decades when the Assad government fell in December 2024. The old Baathist-era flag — red, white and black with two green stars — has been replaced by the green, white and black tricolour with three red stars that Syrians call the Independence Flag. It was originally used from 1932 and had long been associated with the anti-Assad opposition before officially becoming Syria's flag at the United Nations in April 2025.
The three red stars represent Syria's three main historical districts: Aleppo, Damascus and Deir ez-Zor. Green, white and black remain pan-Arab colours shared with several other flags in the region, reflecting a long history of Arab unity movements that Syria's flag has been through several versions of since independence.
One small but noticeable sign of how much the country has changed: you'll now see far fewer of the portraits of Bashar and Hafez al-Assad that used to be plastered everywhere alongside the old flag.
The old flag of Syria had been in use since 1980. The current tri-colour of the Syrian Arab Republic is meant to be a nod to Arab unity. Despite the fact that Syria is now completely independent, they kept pan-Arabic colours as a nod to their previous constitutional arrangements. Like many countries with a turbulent past, Syria has also had its fair share of flags.
The past design was originally created in 1958. It is inspired by the flag of Arab liberation, which many of you will note are the same colours as almost all flags in the Middle East. Sometimes they are known as pan-Arabic colours. The red was meant to represent the Hashemite Dynasty, white represents the Umayyad Dynasty, green the Fatimid Dynasty and finally black the Abbasid Dynasty.
When the current flag was first adopted in 1958, it was when Syria had finally become completely independent of European influence and had decided to form the United Arab republic with Egypt. At the time, the two stars were added to represent Syria and Egypt (the two founding states of the United Arab Republic) and the colours were given contemporary meanings. The colours now mean the following:
Red: The shed of blood for freedom
White: A peaceful future
Green stars: Syria and Egypt together
Black: The oppression that Arabs have suffered
