The Kingdom of Bahrain

The National Flag of Bahrain

علم البحرين

Before 1820, the Kingdom of Bahrain had a simple, deep red banner. 

The Kingdom of Bahrain had been fought over by many of its neighbours. Finally, the Al Khalifa family managed to gain the throne of Bahrain. The ruling family then managed to secure its throne with the signing of a treaty of friendship with the dominant power in the Gulf, Great Britain. This signing was in 1820, and secured the safety of The Kingdom. As a sign of this truce, a white stripe was added to the Kingdoms banner.

In 1932, the Kingdom of Bahrain added a serrated edge dividing the white stripe from the red. This was done in order to differentiate the flag from those of its neighbours. Originally, it was 28 points.

In 1972, a further amendment was made to the flag, simplifying it. The design was not changed, but the number of points in the serrated edge was reduced from the original 28, down to 8.

One more time, the number of points edging the white stripe was reduced in 2002. The purpose behind the change  was to give the points more significance. Now the flag has just 5 points. Each point representing 1 of the 5 pillars of Islam.