Flag of Somaliland
The flag of Somaliland was decided in its present form on 14 October 1996 by the National Assembly in Hargeysa and introduced in 1997. Earlier, Somaliland, which declared independence from Somalia on May 18, 1991, a flag other uses.
The flag consists of three equal width, horizontal stripes. The top strip is colored green. On the strip is in white color the Shahada, the creed of Islam, which is also found on the flag of Saudi Arabia. The middle white strip contains a black star whose five points similar to those of the star of the flag of Somalia stand for the areas in which live ethnic Somali: British Somaliland and Somaliland, Italian Somaliland and the rest of Somalia, French Somaliland and Djibouti, Ogaden and the Somali region in Ethiopia and northeast Kenya. The bottom strip is colored bright red, symbolizing the blood that has flowed in the war of the rebel movement SNM against the dictatorship of Siad Barre from 1981 to 1991. The proportion of the flag is 2:3.
The official interpretation of the individual components flag is: The green color stands for prosperity, white for peace, and the red for the blood of the fallen for the liberation war heroes. The Shahadah is the symbol of Islam, the black star for the end of the idea of a united Somalia.
The resolution, adopted in the referendum on 31 May 2001 Constitution of the Republic of Somaliland, it is said to the flag:
Article 7: The flag, the coat of arms and the national anthem 1 The flag of the Republic of Somaliland shall consist of three horizontal parallel and equal stripes, the top is green and in the middle in white in Arabic Ilah Ila Allah 's words Lā Muhammad Rasūlu - llāh [ dt There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God ] are written; the middle stripe is white and in the center there is a black equilateral five-pointed star; the lower strip is bright red.
Former flags
From independence proclamation in 1991 and the introduction of current flag in 1996 was another flag in use. It consisted of a white box with a green circle in the center, around which the Shahadah was written in black.
At the time when colonial territory British Somaliland were 1903-1950 and 1950-1960 two different flags in use.