Editing Flag of Libya (section)

==History==
{{anchor|Kingdom of Libya}}
[[File:Flag of King Idris I.svg|alt=|thumb|[[Royal Standard]] of [[Idris of Libya|Idris I]] (1951–1969)]]
The first Libyan flag design was based on the banner of the [[Senussi]] dynasty from [[Cyrenaica]], which consisted of a black field and [[star and crescent]] design, and was later used as the flag of the region.

[[Omar Faiek Shennib]], Chief of the Royal Diwans, Vice President of the National Assembly and Minister of Defense under [[Idris of Libya|King Idris Al Senussi]] is credited in the memoirs of [[Adrian Pelt]], UN commissioner for Libya (1949 to 1951) for the design of the original flag of Libya.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}
According to Pelt:
"during deliberations of the Libyan National Constitutional Convention, a paper drawing of a proposed national flag was presented to the convention by [[Omar Faiek Shennib]] (distinguished member of the delegation from Cyrenaica). The design was composed of three colours: red, black and green, with a white crescent and star centered in the middle black stripe. Mr. Shennib informed the delegates that this design had met the approval of His Highness Emir of Cyrenaica, [[Idris of Libya|King Idris Al Senussi]] (later to become King of Libya). The assembly subsequently approved that design."<ref name="dec2">{{cite web |url=http://24dec1951.com/libya/national-flag-of-libya.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031013922/http://24dec1951.com/libya/national-flag-of-libya.html |archive-date=31 October 2015 |title=National Flag of Libya |publisher=24dec1951.com |date=24 December 1951 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{year needed|date=September 2016}}{{page needed|date=September 2016}}<!--could this perchance be "Libyan Independence and the United Nations: A Case of Planned Decolonization" (1970)? These aren't "memoirs", it's a 1000-page topical monograph. Cite a page please.-->

This flag represented Libya from its independence in 1951 until the [[1969 Libyan coup d'état]]. The symbolism of the star and crescent in the flag of the Kingdom of Libya was explained in an English language booklet, ''The Libyan Flag & The National Anthem'', issued by the Ministry of Information and Guidance of the Kingdom of Libya (year unknown) as follows: "The crescent is symbolic of the beginning of the lunar month according to the Islamic calendar. It brings back to our minds the story of [[Hijra (Islam)|Hijra]] [migration] of our Prophet Mohammed from his home in order to spread Islam and teach the principles of right and virtue. The Star represents our smiling hope, the beauty of aim and object and the light of our belief in God, in our country, its dignity and honour which illuminate our way and puts an end to darkness."<ref>cited after a [[:File:Libyan Flag Construction Ministry of Information and Guidance 1951.jpg|copy]] kept by the library of Swiss Vexillological Society; cf. Jos Poels at [http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/Flags/ly_1951.html FOTW], 1997.</ref>
[[File:Flag of Libya (without crescent and star).svg|thumb|During the [[Libyan Civil War]], design without the [[star and crescent]] was common on homemade flags]]
[[File:Libyan protesters flag (observed 2011).svg|thumb|Another variant also used by rebels during the [[Libyan Civil War]], with the three stripes of the same size]]
In 2011, interviews with Ibtisam Shennib and Amal Omar Shennib, Omar Faeik Shennib's only two remaining children, were cited as confirming Pelt's account of the origin of the flag.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://feb17.info/news/for-amal-life-rebegins-at-75/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120911195449/http://feb17.info/news/for-amal-life-rebegins-at-75/ |archive-date=11 September 2012 |title=For Amal, life (re)begins at 75 {{pipe}} |publisher=Feb17.info |date=19 October 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> 
Ibtisam Shennib recalled the morning her father brought a draft of the flag to the breakfast table and showed it to her and her siblings, explaining the original intent behind the selection of the flag's colours and symbols. According to Omar Faiek Shennib, "red was selected for the blood sacrificed for the freedom of Libya, black to remember the dark days that Libyans lived under the [[Italian Libya|occupation of the Italians]] and green to represent its primary wealth, agriculture, [Libya once being referred to as the 'agricultural basket' or 'breadbasket' of the [[Ottoman Empire]]] and the future prosperity of the country. The star and crescent were placed within the black central strip of the flag as a reference to the [[Senussi]] flag and the role of King Idris in leading the country to independence". The flag's colours also echo the colours of the flags of the three regions of Libya: [[Fezzan]] (red), [[Cyrenaica]] (black), and [[Tripolitania]] (green).<ref name="dec2"/>

Under [[Muammar Gaddafi]]'s [[History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi|leadership]], Libya had a [[Arab Liberation Flag|red-white-black]] flag from 1969 to 1977, and it was replaced by the all-green flag from 1977 to 2011, during which it was the only national flag in the world to have one colour and no design. 

During the [[2011 Libyan Civil War|Libyan Civil War]] against the rule of [[Muammar Gaddafi]], the 1951–69 flag – as well as various makeshift versions without the crescent and star symbol, or without the green stripe – came back into use in areas held by the [[Libyan opposition]] and by protesters at several Libyan diplomatic missions abroad.<ref name="meo_sweden">[http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=44543 .Libya's monarchist flag: a symbol of anti-Gathafi protest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110228083933/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=44543 |date=28 February 2011 }}. Middle East Online. Retrieved 27 May 2011.</ref><ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/libya/2011/02/2011224123588553.html What's in a flag? – Libya]. Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 27 May 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2011/feb/17/bahrain-crisis-middle-east-protests-live-blog#block-20|title= Bahrain in crisis and Middle East protests – live blog|author= Mark Tran|date= 17 February 2011|work=The Guardian |access-date=19 February 2011|location=London}}</ref>
The [[National Transitional Council]], formed on 27 February 2011, adopted the flag previously used in the Kingdom of Libya between 1951 and 1969 as the "emblem of the Libyan Republic".<ref>[http://ntclibya.org/ National Transitional Council ''(Retrieved 13 March 2011)''] Ntclibya.org. Retrieved 27 May 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ntclibya.com/InnerPage.aspx?SSID=25&ParentID=20&LangID=1|title=Libya National Flag|access-date=28 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721230816/http://www.ntclibya.com/InnerPage.aspx?SSID=25&ParentID=20&LangID=1|archive-date=21 July 2011}}</ref> The flag was officially defined in article three of the [[Libyan interim Constitutional Declaration|Libyan Draft Constitutional Charter for the Transitional Stage]]:

<blockquote cite="https://www.scribd.com/doc/62823350/Libya-Draft-Constitutional-Charter-for-the-Transitional-Stage">The national flag shall have the following shape and dimensions:

Its length shall be double its width, its shall be divided into three parallel coloured stripes, the uppermost being red, the centre black and lowest green, the black stripe shall be equal in area to the other two stripes together and shall bear in its centre a white crescent, between the two extremities of which there shall be a five-pointed white star.
</blockquote>

On 10 March 2011, France was the first country to recognise the council as the official government of Libya, as well as the first to allow the Libyan embassy staff to raise the flag.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12699183 |work=BBC News | title=Libya: France recognises rebels as government | date=10 March 2011}}</ref> On 21 March, the flag was flown by the Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations and appeared on their official website,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12776418 |work=BBC News | title=Libya air raid 'killed civilians' | date=31 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110826175617/http://libyanmission-un.org/ Libyan Mission New York]}}. Libyanmission-un.org (5 March 2011). Retrieved 27 May 2011.</ref> and thereafter in late August by the [[Arab League]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/08/2011827223817990105.html |title=Libya regains Arab League seat – Africa |publisher=Al Jazeera English }}</ref> and by Libya's own telecommunications authority,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ltt.ly/ |title=ليبيا للاتصالات و التقنية |publisher=Ltt.ly |access-date=2016-09-30 }}</ref> the [[Libya Telecom & Technology]], on its own website. In the following months many other Libyan embassies replaced the green flag of Gaddafi with the tricolour flag.

This original flag of Libya is now the only flag used by the [[United Nations]] to represent Libya, according to the following UN statement: 
"Following the adoption by the General Assembly of resolution 66/1, the Permanent Mission of Libya to the United Nations formally notified the United Nations of a Declaration by the National Transitional Council of 3 August 2011 changing the official name of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to 'Libya' as well as a decision to change Libya's national flag to the original."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2011/unisvic184.html |title=United Nations Information Service ''(Retrieved 19 December 2011)'' |publisher=Unis.unvienna.org |access-date=2020-03-14}}</ref> All Libyan diplomatic posts, such as [[embassies]] and [[consulates]], use the original flag of Libya.               
{{Clear}}&nbsp;{{anchor|Libya flag 1977-2011}}