i n an act that was met with a lot of disapproval, one of the schools, perhaps a preparatory one, held a graduation ceremony for its students, where they entered the hall, carrying the fl ag of the state of palestine, and all those present stood up when the palestinian national anthem was played.
this behavior was already forbidden by law. therefore, it was not strange for the council of ministers to allocate a valuable amount of its “precious” time to issue a decision stressing that all parties, institutions and public bodies are committed to not raising any flag, or playing any national anthem of another country, on any official occasion inside or outside kuwait.
it is good to be concerned about your country’s national fl ag, but at the same time the ministry of information is required to pay attention to the unfortunate situation, in which our fl ag appears on a large number of governmental, and even private institutions, and it is in a shabby and not appropriate condition that does not match its iconic reality. in many places we see the fl ag of kuwait torn, as if it is not a symbol worthy of respect.
the current kuwaiti fl ag was raised for the first time on november 24, 1961, and its colors were inspired by two verses of poetry by safi al-din al-hilli, which read:
“we are a people whose good morals refuse to begin harming those who do not harm us.
“our good deeds are white, our battles are our enemies’ black days , our pastures are green, our swords are red.”
when al-otaibis settled in kuwait, two centuries or more ago (no one can be completely certain of the exact date), kuwaiti ships were raising a red fl ag with a white serrated strip attached to it near the mast, similar to the current fl ag of bahrain.
it was called the sulaimi fl ag, and this fl ag was raised when sheikh sabah bin jaber ruled from 1762 until 1871. after that, the gulf countries, including kuwait, raised the ottoman flag as the islamic fl ag of the caliphate and because they were part of the subsidiary states, even though kuwait was not one of those subsidiaries.
the decision came during a visit by sheikh abdullah bin sabah to baghdad, to negotiate regarding some farms that belonged to his father, sheikh sabah bin jaber, so he was convinced of the necessity of raising the ottoman fl ag to protect his ships, and also to avoid paying high customs in the ports of india.
this was done in 1871, but it was abandoned after the battle of al-sarif in 1901 during the reign of mubarak al-sabah, as a sign of non-subordination to the ottomans. after kuwait was linked to britain. kuwait kept its own flag, but then abandoned it in favor of the ottoman flag.
this continued until 1940, during the reign of sheikh ahmed al-jaber, when a new red triangular fl ag was adopted, with serrations similar to the fl ag of bahrain, and it was added: “there is no god but allah and muhammad is the messenger of god,” in vertical letters towards the mast.
then the sabah label was added to it, and this flag remained raised on the public security command headquarters until 1961 all days except fridays and on official holidays.
it is hoisted on the naif palace on fridays and official holidays, as for the triangular flag with the word “kuwait” written on it. only, it is raised at all official departments, except for the seif palace, public security command, and border centers.
it is not raised on fridays and official holidays. the third triangular flag with the words “there is no god but allah and muhammad is the messenger” written on it and the word “kuwait” is hoisted on all official departments on fridays, holidays, and official holidays.
it is hoisted on the naif palace, except for fridays. again, i would like to call upon the concerned institution to pay attention to the condition and form of the flag raised by official departments, as well as private sector parties, and to work to remove the damaged flags immediately.
note: we support the ministry of interior’s decision to ban all religious manifestations, including flags and slogans, installing booths and exploiting public squares, for any purpose, and applying the decision to everyone, without exception.