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Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (film)

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Flags in Movies

Hatay

Giuseppe Bottasini

The last part of the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" occurs in a (I guess) fictitious arabic State called Hatay (but see also the page on Hatay, Turkey). This flag appears many times. In the red device there are some Arabic writing but I cannot reproduce them. Is this flag related to any real-world one ?
Giuseppe Bottasini, 16 june 2000

I have seen the "Flag of Hatay" featured in the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" before. It was used in another movie, I believe, but it was not Hatay's flag. I am convinced it is real, however. The central medallion is borrowed from a carved door panel from the El Salih Talay mosque in Cairo, Egypt. It appears that the shahadda or confession of Islamic faith is inscribed therein. I first thought the flag was from Hejaz, but that kingdom used the pan-Arab colours from the outset. It could be that this flag was from the clan of Rashid Ali, of the Jebel Shammar, whose family fought Ibn Sa'ud for control of Arabia. As it stands, they lost and were conquered by the Sa'udis.
Glenn Stefanovics 16 june 2000

Please see Ottfried Neubecker's Fahnen un Flaggen, Leipzig, 1939: On page 73 he presents a Hatay's flag which is very much like the turkish flag. The only difference is the star which is red with white border.
Joao (Portugal) 16 june 2000

It could be that this flag was from the clan of Rashid Ali, of the Jebel Shammar, whose family fought Ibn Sa'ud for control of Arabia.
Glenn Stefanovics, 16 june 2000

So, this means that the Hatay flag on the Indiana Jones movie *might* a real flag after all, or at least a real flag used to represent an fictional entity. An interesting editing riddle, especially while there is no absolute certainty about the issue...
Antonio Martins,17 june 2000

Hatay was not fictitious. Sometimes referred to as Alexandretta, (I think), it was autonomous (probably not independent) at some time between WWI and WWII, probably under French suverainty. It's that little slither of Turkey that extends down towards Lebanon along the Eastern Mediterranean (or is that now a bit of Syria?). Although Hatay and Alexandretta aren't the same town - A is north of H - the district was known by both names, e.g. the region of Hatay or the region of Alexandretta (Iskenderun (sp?) in Turkish and was a French mandate until 1939, when it was taken over by Turkey.
Robert Czernkowski, 18 june 2000

Actually, Hatay is in the 1932-1946 flags section of Syria found here.
Santiago Dotor 19 june 2000