Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Yemen flags: how to tell them apart
Egypt, Iraq and Yemen all use red, white and black stripes: Egypt adds the Eagle of Saladin, Iraq adds the green words Allahu Akbar, and Yemen has nothing on it. Syria's current flag is green, white and black with three red stars.
How to tell them apart
Yemen is the plain one
Yemen's flag is just a red, white and black tricolour with no emblem at all. It was adopted on 22 May 1990, the day Yemen was unified.
Egypt has an eagle
Egypt's red, white and black flag has the Eagle of Saladin centred in the white band. It has been used since 4 October 1984.
Iraq has writing
Iraq's red, white and black flag has the takbir (Allahu Akbar) written in green Kufic script in the middle of the white stripe. This design dates from 22 January 2008.
Syria swapped red for green
Syria's current flag is green on top, then white, then black, with three red five-pointed stars in the white stripe. It was officially adopted on 13 March 2025.
Syria's old flag
Before December 2024 Syria used a red, white and black flag with two green stars. That older flag is the one most easily confused with Egypt, Iraq and Yemen.
Same shape
All four flags use a 2:3 ratio, so shape will not help you. Look at the middle stripe and the top colour.
Quick quiz
More lookalike flags
-
Bolivia vs Ghana flag -
Niger vs India flag -
Sierra Leone vs Gabon flag -
Colombia vs Ecuador vs Venezuela flag -
Honduras vs Nicaragua vs El Salvador flag -
Turkey vs Tunisia flag
See all lookalike flags or get the full list as a dataset.
Sources
