The Pan-Arab Colors of the 1916 Revolt

Black, white, green and red come from the flag of the Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule in 1916, attributed to the Hashemite sharif Hussein.

Black stood for the Abbasid past, white for the Umayyads, green for the Fatimids and red for the Hashemite dynasty itself.

Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and the states of the Arab Liberation group all draw on this palette, in patterns that trace their political lineages.