ISRAEL - The Meaning Behind Israel’s Flag

This elegant design is the Flag of the State of Israel. Where did the Israeli flag come from, and what do its elements symbolize?

The Star of David, basically a hexagram formed by two overlapping triangles, one pointed upward and the other downward, has been used around the world from time immemorial. During the Middle Ages, Jewish mystics began to attribute mystical powers to the pentagram and hexagram, which began to appear on talismans against evil spirits. At first both shapes were called “The Seal of Solomon” but over time, that name became exclusive to the pentagram, while the hexagram came to be called Magen David—“The Shield of David.”

The Star of David’s big break came in 1648, when Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II gave the Jews of Prague permission to fly a “Jewish flag” over their synagogue, in recognition of their part in saving the city from the Swedish invaders, who besieged the city as part of the 30 Years War. This “Jewish flag” was red with a yellow Star of David at its center.

Subsequently, during the second half of the 17th century, the Star of David began to acquire its place as a Jewish symbol elsewhere in Bohemia and Moravia. From there, it spread to the rest of Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries, becoming a sort of Jewish equivalent to the Christian cross, used on the facades of synagogues and to decorate Jewish objects. In the second half of the 19th century, Jewish organizations and even sports teams used the Star of David in their logos and uniforms.

The Jewish people had never actually adopted any symbolic colors until the late 19th century, when Ludwig August von Frankl, a Jewish writer from Bohemia, wrote an essay on the subject in 1864. In his paper “The Colors of the Land of Judah” he suggested that the colors of the Jewish people should be the light blue and white of the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl. The blue symbolizes belief that tallits in antiquity bore fringes of that color, though we have no idea if that is true, because we do not know what color the word “tekhelet” in the ancient sources referred to. That Jewish tradition ended up with light blue is largely an accident of history: tekhelet was probably Tyre Purple.

Either way, during the second half of the 19th century and in the 20th century Jewish and Zionist organizations took on these colors in their symbols and uniforms, either because of Frankl or because they came coming to the same conclusion independently.

Preparing for the First Zionist Congress held in Basel, Switzerland in 1897, David Wolfson, Zionist leader Theodor Herzl’s second in command, had the first Zionist Flag made. It too had two blue stripes, but these were thinner. It was different in other ways too. The Star of David in its center had six smaller stars in each one of its points and another little star over it. These were supposed to symbolize the seven-hour work day Herzl envisioned for the future Jewish state. In addition, in the middle of the Star of David was a lion.

A quarter-century later, reminiscing on the history of the Zionist Flag, Wolfson claimed not to have been aware of Frankl’s suggestion of blue and white as Jewish colors, or of the flags used in Rishon Letzion and Boston. Nor did he mention that his flag had a lion and seven stars in addition to the main Star of David. Today he is recognized as the man who designed the flag.
   
-www.haaretz.com, 11 May 2016