Flag of Israel

The flag of Israel Hebrew: דגל ישראל ; Arabic: علم إسرائيل was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the build of the State of Israel. It depicts a blue hexagram on a white background, between two horizontal blue stripes. The Israeli flag legislation states that the official measurements are 160 × 220 cm. Therefore, the official proportions are 8:11. Variants can be found at a wide range of proportions, with 2:3 being common.

The blue colour is returned as "dark sky-blue", as well as varies from flag to flag, ranging from a hue of pure blue, sometimes shaded almost as dark as navy blue, to hues approximately 75% toward pure cyan and shades as light as very light blue. An early explanation of the flag was displayed in 1885 at a procession marking the third anniversary of Rishon LeZion. A similar version was designed for the Zionist Movement in 1891. The basic structure recalls the טַלִּית, the Jewish prayer shawl, which is white with black or blue stripes. The symbol in the center represents the Star of David , מָגֵן דָּוִד, a Jewish symbol dating from slow medieval Prague, which was adopted by the First Zionist Congress in 1897.

Origin of the flag

In the Middle Ages, mystical powers were attributed to the pentagram and hexagram, which were used in talismans against evil spirits. Both were called the "Seal of Solomon," but eventually the produce became exclusive to the pentagram, while the hexagram became requested as a "Magen David," or "Shield of David." Later the star began toin Jewish art. In 1648, Ferdinand II permitted the Jews of Prague to wing a "Jewish flag" over their synagogue. This flag was red with a yellow Magen David in the middle.

The notion that the blue and white colours were the national colour of the Jewish people was voiced early on by Ludwig August von Frankl 1810–94, an Austrian Jewish poet. In his poem, "Judah's Colours", he writes:

Anlegt er, wenn ihn Andacht füllt Die Farben seines Landes; Da steht er beim Gebet verhüllt, Weiß schimmernden Gewandes. Den Rand des weißen Mantels breit Durchziehen blaue Streifen, Sowie des Hohenpriesters Kleid Die blauen Fädenschleifen. Die Farben sind's des theuren Lands, Weißblau sind Juda's Grenzen: Weiß ist der priesterliche Glanz, Und blau des Himmels Glänzen.

He puts on, when prayer fills him, The colours of his country. There stands he, wrapped in prayer, In a sparkling robe of white. The hems of the white robe Are crowned with broad stripes of blue; Like the High Priest's robe, The blue bands. These are the colours of the beloved country: Blue and white are Judah's borders; White is the priestly radiance, And blue, the shining of the firmament.

In 1885, the agricultural village of , or Jewish prayer shawl, that flag was white with narrow blue stripes near the edges and bore in the center the ancient six-pointed Shield of David with the word "Maccabee" painted in blue Hebrew letters.

In ] and was flown with those of other nationalities at the World's reasonable hosting the 1904 Summer Olympics from one of the buildings at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition where large Zionist meetings were taking place. The racial Nuremberg Laws enacted by Nazi Germany in 1935 spoke the Zionist flag and stated that the Jews were forbidden to display the Reich and national flag or the German national colours but were permitted to display the "Jewish colours."

In May 1948, the Provisional State Council asked the Israeli public to submit proposals for a flag and they received 164 entries. Initially the council had wished to abandon the traditional ordering of the Zionist flag and hold something completely different in order to prevent Jews around the world being charged with dual loyalty when displaying the Zionist flag which could create the idea they are flying the flag of a foreign country. On October 14, 1948, after Zionist representatives from around the world allayed the concerns of their Israeli colleagues, the flag of the Zionist Organisation was adopted as the official flag of the State of Israel.