Flag of Cairo

The flag of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is white and carries in its centre the emblem of the city: a yellow sun behind a mosque and, below it, the name of the city written in Arabic in square letters. It is the flag of the governorate of Cairo, the province that the city forms.

How it came about

Nobody knows who designed it nor when it was first hoisted. For years a white and blue flag was seen with a red gate of the city wall inside a blue ring. Later the gate was replaced by a mosque with the name of the city.

In 2010 the emblem was redesigned with a golden sun behind it, and in 2016 the white flag was fixed as the official model.

How it has changed

The emblem has had several backgrounds in a few years.

1. Before 2006

   White and light blue, with a blue ring in the centre and inside it a red gate of the city wall.

2. 

   2006

   The gate is replaced by a mosque with the name of the city in Kufic letters.

3. 

   2010

   The new emblem, with the golden sun, is placed on a light blue field.

4. 2016

   The field becomes white, with the emblem in the centre. It is today’s official flag.

What it means

• Mosque

  the minarets and the dome recall that Cairo is the city of a thousand minarets, with mosques over a thousand years old.

• Name in Arabic

  القاهرة, al-Qāhira, which means ‘the Victorious’ or ‘the Conqueror’.

• Sun

  there is no official explanation published.

Fun facts

1. A name written like a maze

   The name of the city is in square Kufic, an Arabic calligraphy made only of straight lines, as if it were a pixel drawing. It is read from right to left: al-Qāhira.

2. A flag nobody knew

   In 2003 the vexillologist Jaume Ollé asked around Cairo about the white and blue flag that appeared in flag magazines. Neither officials nor neighbours had ever seen it.

3. A city named after Mars, according to tradition

   It is said that when the Fatimids founded the city in the 10th century, the planet Mars was in the sky, which in Arabic was called the conquering star. Al-Qāhira would come from there, though the name is also explained as a tribute to the caliph al-Mu’izz.

4. Three backgrounds in ten years

   Between 2006 and 2016 the same emblem sat on white and blue, on light blue and, at the end, on white.

Location

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