White flag

merging Early Islamic caliphates and Taliban into "Islamic use" section, and adding the Khanate of Kokand

← Previous revision Revision as of 09:27, 12 April 2026 Line 54: Line 54: Its use may have expanded across continents (e.g., Portuguese chronicler [[Gaspar Correia]], writing in the 1550s, claims that in 1502, an Indian ruler, the [[Zamorin]] of [[Calicut]], dispatched negotiators bearing a "white cloth tied to a stick", "as a sign of peace", to his enemy [[Vasco da Gama]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Gaspar |last1=Correia |author-link=Gaspar Correia |title=Lendas da Índia |year=1858 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YmVKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA300 |page=300 |quote=mandou hum seu Bramane em huma almadia com hum pano branco atado e um páu per sinal de paz |publisher=Typ. da Academia Real das Sciencias |first2=Rodrigo José |last2=de Lima Felner |volume=1}}</ref> In 1625, [[Hugo Grotius]] in ''[[De jure belli ac pacis]]'' (On the Law of War and Peace), one of the foundational texts in international law, recognized the white flag as a "sign, to which use has given a signification"; it was "a tacit sign of demanding a parley, and shall be as obligatory, as if expressed by words".<ref>{{cite book |url=http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/grotius-the-rights-of-war-and-peace-2005-ed-vol-3-book-iii |first=Hugo |last=Grotius |author-link=Hugo Grotius |title=The Rights of War and Peace |year=2005 |volume=3 |orig-year=1625 |via=[[Liberty Fund, Inc.]] |editor-first=Jean |editor-last=Barbeyrac |editor-link=Jean Barbeyrac |editor2-first=Richard |editor2-last=Tuck |editor2-link=Richard Tuck}}</ref> Its use may have expanded across continents (e.g., Portuguese chronicler [[Gaspar Correia]], writing in the 1550s, claims that in 1502, an Indian ruler, the [[Zamorin]] of [[Calicut]], dispatched negotiators bearing a "white cloth tied to a stick", "as a sign of peace", to his enemy [[Vasco da Gama]].<ref>{{cite book |first1=Gaspar |last1=Correia |author-link=Gaspar Correia |title=Lendas da Índia |year=1858 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YmVKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA300 |page=300 |quote=mandou hum seu Bramane em huma almadia com hum pano branco atado e um páu per sinal de paz |publisher=Typ. da Academia Real das Sciencias |first2=Rodrigo José |last2=de Lima Felner |volume=1}}</ref> In 1625, [[Hugo Grotius]] in ''[[De jure belli ac pacis]]'' (On the Law of War and Peace), one of the foundational texts in international law, recognized the white flag as a "sign, to which use has given a signification"; it was "a tacit sign of demanding a parley, and shall be as obligatory, as if expressed by words".<ref>{{cite book |url=http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/grotius-the-rights-of-war-and-peace-2005-ed-vol-3-book-iii |first=Hugo |last=Grotius |author-link=Hugo Grotius |title=The Rights of War and Peace |year=2005 |volume=3 |orig-year=1625 |via=[[Liberty Fund, Inc.]] |editor-first=Jean |editor-last=Barbeyrac |editor-link=Jean Barbeyrac |editor2-first=Richard |editor2-last=Tuck |editor2-link=Richard Tuck}}</ref>

==Early Islamic caliphates== ==Islamic use== The [[Umayyad dynasty]] (661–750) used white as their symbolic color as a reminder of [[Muhammad]]'s first [[Battle of Badr|battle at Badr]]. The [[Umayyad dynasty]] (661–750) used white as their symbolic color as a reminder of [[Muhammad]]'s first [[Battle of Badr|battle at Badr]].

The [[Alids]] and the [[Fatimid dynasty]] also used white in opposition to the [[Abbasids]], who used black as their dynastic color.<ref>{{cite book | last = Hathaway | first = Jane | title = A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen | location = Albany, New York | publisher = State University of New York Press | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-7914-5883-9 | url = {{Gbook|L-lPC7DgepEC|plainurl=y}} | page =97 | quote = The Ismaili Shi'ite counter-caliphate founded by the Fatimids took white as its dynastic color, creating a visual contrast to the Abbasid enemy.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = The Oxford History of Islam | editor-last = Esposito | editor-first = John L. | editor-link = John Esposito | location = Oxford | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-19-510799-3 | first1 = Sheila S. | last1 = Blair | first2 = Jonathan M. | last2 = Bloom | chapter = Art and Architecture: Themes and Variations | pages = 215–267 | quote = ...white was also the color associated with the Fatimid caliphs, the opponents of the Abbasids.}}</ref> For the same reason, the color white was adopted by other [[Shia]] regimes, like the [[Qarmatians]] of [[Eastern Arabia|Bahrayn]], and the [[Zaydi]] rulers in [[Alavid dynasty|northern Iran]] and [[Rassid dynasty|Yemen]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Ibn Khaldûn, The Muqaddimah. An Introduction to History | edition = Second | volume = 2 | year = 1967 | translator = [[Franz Rosenthal]] | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = Princeton, NJ | isbn = 0-691-09797-6 | page = 51}}</ref> The [[Alids]] and the [[Fatimid dynasty]] also used white in opposition to the [[Abbasids]], who used black as their dynastic color.<ref>{{cite book | last = Hathaway | first = Jane | title = A Tale of Two Factions: Myth, Memory, and Identity in Ottoman Egypt and Yemen | location = Albany, New York | publisher = State University of New York Press | year = 2003 | isbn = 978-0-7914-5883-9 | url = {{Gbook|L-lPC7DgepEC|plainurl=y}} | page =97 | quote = The Ismaili Shi'ite counter-caliphate founded by the Fatimids took white as its dynastic color, creating a visual contrast to the Abbasid enemy.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title = The Oxford History of Islam | editor-last = Esposito | editor-first = John L. | editor-link = John Esposito | location = Oxford | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-19-510799-3 | first1 = Sheila S. | last1 = Blair | first2 = Jonathan M. | last2 = Bloom | chapter = Art and Architecture: Themes and Variations | pages = 215–267 | quote = ...white was also the color associated with the Fatimid caliphs, the opponents of the Abbasids.}}</ref> For the same reason, the color white was adopted by other [[Shia]] regimes, like the [[Qarmatians]] of [[Eastern Arabia|Bahrayn]], and the [[Zaydi]] rulers in [[Alavid dynasty|northern Iran]] and [[Rassid dynasty|Yemen]].<ref>{{cite book | title = Ibn Khaldûn, The Muqaddimah. An Introduction to History | edition = Second | volume = 2 | year = 1967 | translator = [[Franz Rosenthal]] | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = Princeton, NJ | isbn = 0-691-09797-6 | page = 51}}</ref>
The [[Sunni]] [[Khanate of Kokand]] (1709–1876) used a white banner.
⚫ [[File:Flag of the Taliban (Shahada v2).svg|thumb|[[Flag of Afghanistan]] under [[Taliban]] ruling]] ⚫ The white flag was the official flag of the [[Taliban]]-ruled [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996-2001)|Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan]] between September 1996 and October 1997.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Lohlker |editor1-first=Rüdiger |title=Jihadism: Online Discourses and Representations |series=Studying Jihadism |date=2013 |publisher=V & R unipress GmbH |isbn=978-3-8471-0068-3 |page=44 |url=https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/reader/10.14220/9783737000680 |access-date=24 April 2022 |format=PDF |quote=the Afghan Taliban used a plain white flag between 1996 and 1997 and a white flag with the Islamic credo in black letters from 1997 on until today. |doi=10.14220/9783737000680 |volume=2}}</ref> It is sometimes used as an unofficial variant of the [[Flag of Afghanistan|current flag]] which includes the [[Shahada]] written in black on a white field.

==Ancien Régime in France== ==Ancien Régime in France== Line 86: Line 91: {{main|Flag of Antarctica}} {{main|Flag of Antarctica}} In 1929, members of the [[British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition]] on [[RRS Discovery|RRS ''Discovery'']] used white cotton sheeting to improvise a [[Maritime flag#Courtesy flag|courtesy ensign]] (a flag used as a token of respect by vessels while in foreign waters) for a continent without a flag of its own. It is now in the [[National Maritime Museum]] in London. The white flag was used to represent Antarctica on at least two occasions on the voyage to Antarctica. On 1 August 1929, ''[[The Times]]'' noted that "the ship was flying the [[Union Jack]] at her forepeak, the white Antarctic flag at the foremast, and the [[Flag of Australia|Australian flag]] at the stern."<ref>{{Cite web|title=White Flag of Antarctica - National Maritime Museum|url=https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/895.html#:~:text=White%20Flag%20of%20Antarctica%20flown,no%20flag%20of%20its%20own.|access-date=26 October 2020|website=collections.rmg.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Savours |first=Ann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrvgAwAAQBAJ&dq=The+ship+was+flying+the+Union+Jack+at+her+forepeak%2C+the+white+Antarctic+flag+at+the+foremast%2C+and+the+Australian+flag+at+the+stern&pg=PA132 |title=The Voyages of the Discovery: An Illustrated History of Scott's Ship |date=4 April 2013 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1-84832-702-3 |language=en}}</ref> In 1929, members of the [[British Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition]] on [[RRS Discovery|RRS ''Discovery'']] used white cotton sheeting to improvise a [[Maritime flag#Courtesy flag|courtesy ensign]] (a flag used as a token of respect by vessels while in foreign waters) for a continent without a flag of its own. It is now in the [[National Maritime Museum]] in London. The white flag was used to represent Antarctica on at least two occasions on the voyage to Antarctica. On 1 August 1929, ''[[The Times]]'' noted that "the ship was flying the [[Union Jack]] at her forepeak, the white Antarctic flag at the foremast, and the [[Flag of Australia|Australian flag]] at the stern."<ref>{{Cite web|title=White Flag of Antarctica - National Maritime Museum|url=https://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/895.html#:~:text=White%20Flag%20of%20Antarctica%20flown,no%20flag%20of%20its%20own.|access-date=26 October 2020|website=collections.rmg.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Savours |first=Ann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RrvgAwAAQBAJ&dq=The+ship+was+flying+the+Union+Jack+at+her+forepeak%2C+the+white+Antarctic+flag+at+the+foremast%2C+and+the+Australian+flag+at+the+stern&pg=PA132 |title=The Voyages of the Discovery: An Illustrated History of Scott's Ship |date=4 April 2013 |publisher=Seaforth Publishing |isbn=978-1-84832-702-3 |language=en}}</ref>
==Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan== ⚫ [[File:Flag of the Taliban (Shahada v2).svg|thumb|[[Flag of Afghanistan]] under [[Taliban]] ruling]] ⚫ The white flag was the official flag of the [[Taliban]]-ruled [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996-2001)|Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan]] between September 1996 and October 1997.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Lohlker |editor1-first=Rüdiger |title=Jihadism: Online Discourses and Representations |series=Studying Jihadism |date=2013 |publisher=V & R unipress GmbH |isbn=978-3-8471-0068-3 |page=44 |url=https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/reader/10.14220/9783737000680 |access-date=24 April 2022 |format=PDF |quote=the Afghan Taliban used a plain white flag between 1996 and 1997 and a white flag with the Islamic credo in black letters from 1997 on until today. |doi=10.14220/9783737000680 |volume=2}}</ref> It is sometimes used as an unofficial variant of the [[Flag of Afghanistan|current flag]] which includes the [[Shahada]] written in black on a white field.

==See also== ==See also==