Red is in the region of the Indian Ocean a flag color with a great tradition and wide dissemination, from the coasts of Arabia, over Zansibar to the Maldives. It has a tight connection to the Islam, because red is the color: 1st) of the Sherifs of Mecca, 2nd) of the Charidshites and Ibadites, and 3rd) of the descendants of the Calif Ali.

Before 1915 many Arabian states used a monochrome red flag. In 1820 some Emirates in the region of the Persian Gulf came to an general sea agreement with Great Britain, which should stop the piracy in this region. As a sign of acceptance many Arabian Emirates added to their traditional red flags a white stripe, or added other white structures, borders etc. In this way the flag of Bahrain carried likewise a white stripe in the red flag on the flagpole.

The today's flag of Bahrain was probably introduced in 1932. The red bunting was separated from the white stripe by a zigzag, but ostensibly the old version should be in use there still sporadically. This flag was a little bit changed on 22nd of February in 2002. The number of the white jags in the flag was reduced from eight to five.

Text mit freundlicher Genehmigung von Flaggenlexikon.de