Yemen’s current national flag has three equal horizontal bands.
The bands run from top to bottom in red, white, and black. Unlike some earlier Yemeni flags, the present design has no star, emblem, triangle, or other central symbol, making its three-color layout especially straightforward.
The flag was adopted on 22 May 1990, the day North Yemen and South Yemen unified to form the Republic of Yemen. Its design is derived from the Arab Liberation Flag tradition used by several Arab republics. Official interpretations connect red with the blood of martyrs and the struggle for independence and unity, white with a bright future, and black with the country’s difficult past.
Historical flags can cause confusion. The former Yemen Arab Republic used a green star in the white band, while South Yemen used a light-blue chevron and red star. Those details disappeared from the unified republic’s flag, which remains a simple red-white-black triband.