Sunday, May 22, 2016

Mauritania Flag History Today

By Marina Koronsky


Mauritania is a mainly desert country spanning the Arab Maghreb of North Africa and the western sub-Saharan Africa. In the Middle Ages, Mauritania was the cradle of the powerful Almoravid dynasty, which spread Islam across North Africa and later controlled Islamic Spain.

Just like other countries in Africa, the colors of the flag of Mauritania have the hints of Pan-African colors which represent the status of the country as an African nation. The Mauritanian flag has emerald green as the dominant color, with a five-pointed star and crescent, all in yellow colors, situated at its center. There are no available official records indicating the exact specification and proportion of the star and the crescent.

Mauritania became an independent nation on Nov. 28, 1960, and was admitted to the United Nations in 1961 over the strenuous opposition of Morocco, which claimed the territory. In the late 1960s, the government sought to make Arab culture dominant.

The Mauritanian flag was adopted on April 1, 1959, just before gaining independence from France on November 28, 1960. The flag of Mauritania consists of an emerald green base with yellow a crescent in the center of it. Above the crescent is a yellow, five-point star. Rumor has it that the Mauritanian flag was selected, and perhaps also designed, personally by the former president of Mauritania, Mukthar Ould Dada.

To immortalize their gratefulness, the people adopted the crescent. Today, the star and crescent is widely associated with Islamic faith and is mostly adopted by Muslim countries in their respective flags. While the Jews have the Star of David, the Christians the symbol of the cross, the Muslims also have the crescent and the star. The Flag Company Inc specialized in flag designs offered a special edition of decals and flags to memorize the history of Mauritanian Flag for the future.




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