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General Maritime Treaty 1820

Origin of United Arab Emirates' flags

1:1
by Santiago Dotor

Introduction
White Pierced Red or No. 2 flag
No. 1 flag

See also:

Emirates still using the white pierced red or No. 2 flag:
- Ras al-Khaimah
- Sharjah
Emirates still using the No. 1 flag or variants thereof:
- Abu Dhabi (variant, canton only)
- Ajman
- Bahrain (variant, serration)
- Dubai
- Qatar (variant, serration and colour)
- Umm al-Qaiwain (variant, crescent and star)
Emirates which formerly used the white pierced red or No. 2 flag:
- Kalba Emirate (1921-1952)
- Anjouan 1833-mid 19th century (Comoros)
Emirates which formerly used the No. 1 flag or variants thereof:
- Kuwait 1915-1956 (variant, name of country)
- Qu'aiti State in Hadhramaut 1880-1939
Sultanate of Muscat and Oman until 1970
Pan-Arab Colours

Introduction

Until the 19th century the Gulf emirates' monochrome red flags were undifferentiated, but then they added white borders, hoists, stripes, script, etc.. Moore and Ross 1986 says that in 1820 the British asked Gulf Emirs who were friendly to them and entered into special treaty relationship with them to put white onto their traditional red Muslim flags. There was, however, no standard way to display this white and it was up to the locals to find a way. In most cases, there wasn't even a standardization, it seems, at any single point in time, much less over time. This explains the white on the flags of the states, as well as on the hoist of the flags of Qatar and Bahrain (both of which were invited to join the United Arab Emirates when it was formed in 1971 but declined). Fujayrah never entered a treaty relationship with the British, so its flag remained plain red. That treaty was the "truce" that changed the Pirate Coast to the Trucial Coast (or Trucial Oman as it was sometimes misleadingly called).

James Dignan, Josh Fruhlinger, Ed Haynes and Ole Andersen, 1995-1997

Flag books often refer to the General Maritime Treaty of 1820 which instituted the red and white flags of some arab states in the Persian Gulf. I have just found a copy of that treaty in C.R. Low, History of the Indian Navy. Here are the articles which relate to flags:

The following is a translation of the general Treaty of peace with the arab tribes of the Persian Gulf, dated the 8th of January 1820.
"In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate! Praise be to God, who hath ordained peace to be a blessing to his creatures! There is established a lasting peace between the British Government and the Arab tribes, who are parties to the contract, on the following conditions:
Art. 3. The friendly (literally the pacificated) Arabs shall carry, by land and by sea, a red flag, with or without letters in it, at their option; and this shall be in a border of white, the breadth of the white in the border being equal to the breadth of the red, as represented in the margin [of the original document], the whole forming the flag known in the British Navy by the title of 'White pierced Red'; and this shall be the flag of the friendly Arabs, and they shall use it, and no other.
Art. 4. The pacificated tribes shall all of them continue in their former relations, with the exception that they shall be at peace with the British Government, and shall not fight with each other; and the flag shall be a symbol of this only, and of nothing further.
Art. 10. The vessels of the friendly Arabs, bearing their flag above described, shall enter into all the British ports, and into the ports of the allies of the British, so far as they shall be able to effect it, and they shall buy and sell therein; and if any shall attack them, the British Government shall take notice of it."

The length of each side of the square in the centre of the flag is the same as the width of the border around it. To put it another way, the square in the centre is one ninth of the square flag.

The treaty was signed by different tribes on various dates between mid-day on Saturday 8th January and 15th March 1820. The Chief of Khor Hassan near Bahrein refused to sign on the grounds that he was subordinate to the Persian Government. This was allowed on the understanding that the Governor of Bushire (Bushehr) was responsible for his conduct.

David Prothero, 25 October 1998

The Treaty of 1820 only prescribes one flag for the sheikhs. The flag, called white pierced red, was to be used by all sheikhs, but there was a rivalry between the tribes in the Gulf region. The most important was the Qawasim tribe, ruling most of the area. (Qawasim is the plural. The singular is Qassim, hence the Qassimi dynasty. The people belonging to it are Qawasim.) This tribe was also the leading one in piracy, so the treaty was in fact a treaty between the British and the Qawasim to stop piracy. Their sheiks ruled in Sharjah, Ras al-Khaimah, Fujairah (Sheikh Sultan bin Saqr of Sharjah, who signed the treaty in 1820, had been sheikh of Ras-al-Khaimah until 1809!).

So other tribes looked upon this flag as the Qawasim-flag. Norie 1848 has the flag as the flag of the Wahabees which is not correct, as the Wahabees were at war against the Qawasim. But from his note you can see that this flag was seen as the flag of one tribe. As the treaty was one against piracy on land the plain red flag was kept in use (I have several photographs from books that show plain red flags!), and at some times (war against other tribes, etc.) the red flag was flown even at sea.

A plain red flag was also used by Muscat. Muscat had quite friendly relations to all of the tribes, but not to the Qawasim. So it seems natural that the other tribes preferred the plain flag. For example: Abu Dhabi officially readopted the plain red flag in 1833/34 and returned to the white bordered flag after the new sea-treaty of 1835. On land they kept the plain red flag (until 1958!!!). At sea Abu Dhabi introduce