Flag of Jerusalem

The flag of Jerusalem is that of the Israeli municipality of the city. It copies the blue stripes of the flag of Israel and puts the municipal emblem in the centre: a lion guarding a stone wall. The city is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, and its political status is still disputed.

How it came about

The emblem came first. In December 1948, with the city divided, the municipality of the western part called a competition. The first 29 proposals were all rejected, so the prizes were raised and they started again. A group of designers led by the typographer Eliyahu Koren won, and the emblem was approved in February 1950.

The flag arrived in March 1958: light blue with two white stripes and the emblem.

How it has changed

It changed only once, four years after being born.

1. 1958-1962

   Light blue field with two white stripes and the lion emblem.

2. 

   1962

   The colours are reversed to match those of the flag of Israel: white field and blue stripes.

What it means

• Blue stripes on white

  those of the flag of Israel, which imitate the stripes of the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl.

• Lion

  the Lion of Judah, the biblical tribe whose capital was Jerusalem.

• Stone wall

  the Western Wall, with the big stones below and the small ones above, as in the wall itself.

• Olive branches

  peace.

Fun facts

1. They changed it because it looked like the UN one

   The first flag, light blue with white stripes, reminded people too much of that of the United Nations. In 1962 it was given the colours of the flag of Israel.

2. A wall that then was not theirs

   The emblem draws the stones of the Western Wall, although in 1949, when it was designed, the Old City was under Jordanian control.

3. A proposal with Crusader crosses

   Among the 1949 proposals there was a shield with the five crosses of the old Kingdom of Jerusalem and a Latin motto, sent by an Englishman from Halifax. In 1949 the Israeli city was only the western, mostly Jewish part.

4. An emblem the war left in the drawer

   In 1943, under the British Mandate, the municipality approved an emblem by the artist Esther Berlin-Joel. It lacked the approval of the British College of Arms, the Second World War delayed it, and in 1945 the project was shelved without ever being used.

5. A lion that turns

   When the flag hangs vertically, the emblem is turned 90 degrees so the lion is not lying down.

Location

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