A sword appears beneath the inscription on Saudi Arabia’s national flag.
The white Arabic inscription is the shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith. Beneath it is a horizontal white sword, with its point toward the hoist, or flagpole side. The sword is associated with strength and justice in the kingdom’s symbolism.
Saudi Arabia’s flag is green, a color strongly associated with Islam. Its design developed from earlier banners used by the House of Saud and was officially standardized in the twentieth century. Unlike many national flags, it has distinct rules for handling because the shahada is sacred.
The sword is sometimes mistaken for a dagger because of its simplified outline, but the official emblematic weapon is a sword. The flag is also unusual because it is not lowered to half-mast, and it is not normally flown vertically since doing so would rotate the religious inscription.