Country profile: Lebanon

Under the French Mandate, Lebanon used a French tricolour bearing a cedar in the centre. In November 1943, during the crisis that led to independence, members of parliament drew and signed a new flag, whose design is attributed to Henri Pharaon.

On 7 December 1943, an amendment to Article 5 of the Constitution established the current flag: red stripes at the top and bottom and a white stripe twice as wide in the centre, with a green cedar.

Lebanon's independence is celebrated on 22 November, the day in 1943 when the Lebanese leaders imprisoned by the French authorities were released.

The elements of the Lebanese flag are generally interpreted as follows:

• Cedar: a symbol of Lebanon since antiquity, mentioned several times in the Bible, it represents holiness, eternity and tolerance.
• Red: the blood shed for the liberation of the country.
• White: peace, and the snow that covers Lebanon's mountains.

The cedars of Lebanon, including the Forest of the Cedars of God, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, were already sought after in antiquity by the Phoenicians and the Egyptians for building ships and temples.

A copy of the flag drawn and signed by the members of parliament in November 1943 has been preserved, a first-hand record of the birth of independent Lebanon.

The Lebanese flag resembles those of Austria and Latvia, but it is the only one of the three to bear an emblem in the centre, and its white stripe is twice as wide.