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- Emirate of the UAE
- absolutist monarchy
- own name: Imārat Abū Zaby
- other names: Abu Sabi, Abu Zabi, Abu Zaby
• Flag
• Historical Flags
• Meaning/Origin of the Flag
• Coat of Arms
• Map
• Numbers and Facts
• History
• Origin of the Country's Name
National und state flag,
ratio = 1:2,
Source, by: Flags of the World, Wikipedia (EN)
to 1820, Ghafiri & Hinawi, in:,
Abu Dhabi, Umm Al Quwain, Ajman
Source, by: Flags of the World
1820–ca.1833, "The White Pierced Red",
Flag of the maritime peace treaty,
ratio = 1:1,
Source, by: Flags of the World
1820–1833,
War flag,
ratio = 1:2 & 1:3...,
Source, by: Flags of the World
1833–1835,
National, merchant and war flag,
ratio = 1:2 & 1:3...,
Source, by: Flags of the World
1835–1958,
National flag (ashore),
ratio = 1:2 & 1:3...,
Source, by: Flags of the World
1835–ca.1905,
offshore flag of the maritime peace treaty,
ratio = 1:2 & 1:3...,
Source, by: Flags of the World
ca.1905–1958,
offshore flag of the maritime peace treaty,
ratio = 1:2 & 1:3...,
Source, by: Flags of the World
The flag history of the country begins with the piracy of Arab tribes, who were able to develop into very successful pirates in the region due to the confrontation between the major naval powers in the Napoleonic Wars and the recovery in world trade after Napoleon's defeat. The most important representatives of piracy were the tribal organisations of the Hinawi (Sheikdom of Abu Dhabi, later also Dubai and Fujairah) and of the Ghafiri (in the sheikhdoms of Umm Al Quwain and Ajman) and the powerful Al-Qawasim dynasty, which ruled in the emirate of Ras Al Khaimah and later in Sharjah too. The Hinawi and Ghafiri used single-coloured red flags without defined side lengths. The Al-Qawasim, as a powerful naval power, already had a more modern flag. It was horizontally striped green-white-red with an Arabic inscription in the centre "Nassr min Allah wa fatah karib" → "By Allah to victory and total subjugation". United Kingdom, as the major naval power, decided to take military action against piracy and defeated the Arab tribes of the region, who were forced to sign a maritime peace treaty in 1820 to end piracy. The Arabs were bound to peace, but their ships were given freedom of movement in trade and were allowed to call at British harbours unhindered. To do so, however, they had to use the treaty flag of the maritime peace treaty on land and at sea, the "White Pierced Red" used in the British navy, apparently a previous square signalling flag. It was square white with a red square in the centre, one-ninth the size of the total area of the flag. However, in times of war, all signatories were allowed to revert to their previous flags. The treaty flag, the "White Pierced Red", was not very popular with the pacified Arabs, and when it was used, its shape was changed to an elongated form common in the region. However, the Al-Qawasim adopted the design as the flag of their emirates and it is still used there today. With the peace treaty, the competing Hinawi and Ghafiri sheikhs saw the Al-Qawasim as being more responsible than themselves. Over the years, it became clear to the sheikhs that they had to use the same flag as the Al-Qawasim, or even had to adopt their flag. For this reason, Abu Dhabi even briefly returned to the single-coloured red flag in 1833, until a single-coloured red flag with a white stripe on the mast became established as the treaty flag for the Hinawi and Ghafiri, just as it was then and is now used by Bahrain and Qatar (perhaps modelled on them) and as it is still used today by Ajman and Dubai. The old flag, which was permitted under the maritime peace treaty in the event of war, could have been used until 1892, because in that year United Kingdom established its protectorate and took over the foreign and defence policy of the contracting states. The today's flag of Abu Dhabi was introduced in 1958. It shows a single-coloured red flag with a white upper corner. Before the introduction of the treaty flag of British origin in the colours white and red, single-coloured red flags were used by the Ghafiri and Hinawi, i.e. also in Abu Dhabi. In the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf region, red is a traditional flag colour that is closely associated with Islam, as it is the colour of the sherifs of Mecca and is a symbol of the Islamic Kharijites living in eastern Arabia. All Islamic dynasties that refer to the origin of the Alawites (also called Alids, descendants of Ali → e.g. today's Morocco, former North Yemen) have or had red flags. Some sources mention a short time used single-coloured green flag for Abu Dhabi around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Source:
Wikipedia (EN),
Flags of the World,
Volker Preuß
Coat of arms of Abu Dhabi,
Source: Government of Abu Dhabi, Public domain,
via Wikimedia Commons
Source: by UAE_en-map.png: Chumwa [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons
Area: 26.000 square miles
Inhabitants: 2.908.173 (2016), thereof 81 % Foreigners
Density of Population: 112 inh./sq.mi.
Capital: Abu Dhabi, 1.450.000 inh. (2018)
official Language: Arabic
other Languages: English, Hindi, Urdu, Farsi
Currency: 1 VAE-Dirham (Dh., AED) = 100 Fils
Time Zone: GMT + 4 h
Source: Wikipedia (DE)
4th millennium B.C. · first settlement
ca. 1st millennium B.C. · settlement by Arabs
4th to 7th century A.D. · the area of the today's emirates belongs to the Persian Sassanid Empire
630 · introduction of Islam
632 · apostasy
634 · the area of the today's emirates is conquered by the Arab Caliphate, re-Islamization
middle ages · the area of the today's emirates belongs to Oman
16th century · military and commercial operations of the Portuguese
ca. 1650 · under the control of the Ottoman Empire
ca. 1750 · conquest by Bedouins, Beginning of piracy, the area is called "Pirate Coast"
1761 · establishing of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi by the the Banu Yas
1806–1819 · actions of the British navy against the pirates
1820 · Peace Treaty for the end of piracy
1833 · establishing of the Emirate of Dubai as a separation from Abu Dhabi by the Al Abu Falasa lineage under leadership of the Al Maktoum Family
1834 · renewal of the peace treaty
1853 · renewal of the peace treaty, "Perpetual Maritime Truce", Abu Dhabi becomes part of the "Trucial Oman", also called "Trucial States"
1892 · United Kingdom establishes its protectorate over the emirates
2nd of December 1971 · United Kingdom grants independence to Abu Dhabi, establishing of the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Fujairah, Sharjah, Dubai and Umm Al Quwain)
Source:
Wikipedia (DE),
World Statesmen,
Discovery '97,
Volker Preuß
The emirate is named after its capital: "Abu Dhabi". That means "Father of Gazelle". This name has been around 300 years in use. In ancient times the place was called "Milh", what means "salt" and later "Dhu Dhabi", "with gazelle". Today the place is also called also "Umm Dhabi" by some Bedouins, what means "Mother of the Gazelle". The Arabic pronunciation is represented very differently in Latin script, so that there are different spellings: Abu Sabi, Abu Zabi and Abu Zaby.
Source: Wikipedia (EN)
