In this post we’ll be looking at what some colors symbolize in Arab culture and the flags of some Arab states. In addition to the Arabic names of some colors that don’t exist in your regular basic color list. I also thought to remind you how to ask someone what their favorite color is in Arabic.✨🎨 🌈

Generally speaking:

Red أحْمَر in the Middle East can be associated with love as it is in other cultures, in addition to caution, anger, and evil.

Green أَخْضَر in the Middle East represents the religion of Islam and thus most Arabs would associate it with peace and spirituality. Green is also used in several national flags as a symbol of Islam. Some of these include Afghanistan, Algeria, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.

Black أسْوَد and white أبْيَض can both represent rebirth and mourning. Modesty can be associated with black as well.

Flags:

Have you noticed that several flags of Arab states have the color combination of white, black, green and red? Can you name a few? These four colors are referred to as the Pan-Arab colors ألوان الوحدة العربية. Some examples include Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, and Palestine.

The pan-Arab colors were used for the flag of the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire in 1916. The four colors derived their symbolic meaning from a verse by 14th century Iraqi poet Safi Al-Din Al-Hilli: صفي الدين الحلي “White are our acts, black our battles, green our fields, and red our swords“.

بيض صنائعنا سود وقائعنا

خضر مرابعنا حمر مواضينا

Individually, each of the four Pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain Arab dynasty. These colors can also have a specific significance according to each Arab state. For example, in the Lebanese flag, red symbolizes the blood of the martyrs who struggled against the Ottoman empire. Whereas, in the Jordanian flag, it is the symbol of the reigning Hashemite dynasty الهاشميّون.

Next time you see the flag of one of these countries, say the colors in Arabic and think about what they symbolize for that specific country and its history.

Here are ten colors in Arabic you don’t come across very often in color lists. Notice how most of these colors come from a name of something of that color with a ي added to the end.

الأزرَق الداكِن navy blue      فَيروزي أو تُركوازي  turquoise     رَمادي grey     بَنَفْسَجي purple

خَمري burgundy (Burgundy is a historical region in east-central France. It’s famous for its Burgundy wines, hence in Arabic it’s called خَمري from خَمْر meaning wine or alcohol.)

كَستَنائي maroon (takes its name from the French word maroon, or chestnut, hence in Arabic  كَستَنائي from كَستَناء meaning chestnut.)

فِضي silver (silver in Arabic is فِضة )

ذَهَبي gold (gold in Arabic is ذَهب)

فَحمي charcoal (charcoal in Arabic is فَحم)

زَيتوني olive (olive in Arabic is زَيتون)

What is your favorite color?

ما لَوْنُكَ المُفَضَل؟

My favorite color is…

…لَوني المُفَضَل هوَ

A few random colorful things in Arabic 😊:

rainbow قَوْس قُزَح   🌈       fireworks  أَلْعاب نَاريّة   🎇         paintings لَوحات 🎨