On Libya's flag, the black middle band is double the width of each outer band. The red, black, and green triband therefore gives the central black section the same total area as the two narrower outer sections combined.
The modern Libyan flag was originally adopted when the Kingdom of Libya became independent on 24 December 1951. It was designed by Omar Faiek Shennib and approved by King Idris al-Senussi. A white crescent and five-pointed star sit in the center of the black band.
The flag was abolished after the 1969 coup that brought Muammar Gaddafi to power. Libya later used a red-white-black flag, followed by an all-green flag from 1977 to 2011. The earlier red-black-green design was restored during the 2011 uprising and formally readopted afterward.
The colors are also associated with Libya's historic regions: red with Fezzan, black with Cyrenaica, and green with Tripolitania. The black stripe's unusual width is a construction detail often overlooked when the flag is described simply as a triband.