^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Comoros: Variations of the 1996-2001 flag

Local variations:
- Variation #1
- Variation #2
Incorrect design from tFB174

See also:

Local variations

There is quite a variety of objects [regarded as the national flag] hanging from flagpoles in the country.
Iain Walker, 10 Feb 1999

I just got back from the Comoros where I made a point of inspecting the flags. There are at least three varieties flying [two shown on this page and the third, most recent and official, at the main 1996-2001 page]. I could not find the presidential decree in the national archives, it seems to have been “lost”. On all flags the crescent and four stars are as we know, upright and open to the fly. It’s the text that moves, although the actual text itself is the same: Allah and Mohammed, both with shaddas (little "w"s), but no other diacritics. I didn’t manage to actually measure any, but these old dark green varieties are probably slightly squarer than 3:4
Iain Walker, 21 Dec 1999 and 14 Jan 2000

The sides are different because the writing must be correct in both sides (thus diferentially inverted) and the moon must point to the fly in both sides (thus not inverted), I believe.
António Martins, 08 Nov 1998

Variation #1

Obverse

by Arnaud Palac and António Martins,
25 Jan 2000 |

Flag 1 (the oldest): obverse (face showing when the pole is at the viewer’s right hand), Allah, top, in the fly, Mohammed, bottom, hoist; reverse (face showing when the pole is at the viewer’s left hand), Allah, top, in the fly, Mohammed, bottom, hoist.
Iain Walker, 21 Dec 1999

Reverse

by Arnaud Palac and António Martins,
25 Jan 2000 |

Calvarin [clv02] shows a flag similar to this one.
Ivan Sache, 20 Apr 2002

Variation #2

Obverse

by Arnaud Palac and António Martins,
25 Jan 2000 |

Flag 2: obverse (face showing when the pole is at the viewer’s right hand), Allah, top, in the hoist, Mohammed, bottom, in the fly; reverse (face showing when the pole is at the viewer’s left hand), Allah, top, in the fly, Mohammed, bottom, hoist.
Iain Walker, 21 Dec 1999

Album 2000 [pay00] shows this design.
Zeljko Heimer, 15 Jan 2002

Reverse

by Arnaud Palac and António Martins,
25 Jan 2000 |

Incorrect design from tFB174

(used, i.a., at the UN headquarters and at the Sydney Olympics)

by Jos Poels and Mark Sensen,
05 Apr 1997 |

The flags at the Sydney Oympics were made by the USA subsidiary of Doublet. The form of Comoros flag used was the design as supplied by Paramount Flags — which naturally enough followed the Flag Research Centre version of the design. Flag Bulletin No. 174 (March 1997) [tfb] shows the design with the name "Muhammad" in a single line and "Allah" in a different lettering.
Ralph Kelly, 22 Dec 2000

The design in Flag Bulletin No. 174 (March 1997) [tfb] was used by Annin to make the Comoros flags for outside the United Nations. When the Comoron Ambassador to the UN saw it he rejected it as having the wrong inscription on it. The words "Allah" and "Mohammed" are meant to be the traditional ullams or monograms rather than the names written out in full. The Comoron government supplied a sample flag which Annin used to make replacement flags.
Graham Bartram, 23 Dec 2000

Lux-Wurm [lux01] shows the incorrect version from Flag Bulletin
Ivan Sache, 20 Apr 2002

The flags originally flown at the UN after the new flag was announced, had "Muhammed" written out in “long hand”, as was shown in the Flag Bulletin [tfb]. The actual flag doesn’t use “long hand” but the more stylized ulam (a sort of monogram). Arabic calligraphy is very flexible and forms a major part of Arabic art and the ulams have developped as a stylized form of the names. If you look at the flag of Saudi Arabia it quickly becomes apparent that the Shahada is not just written across it in everyday writing, but has been drawn in a complex and beautiful pattern. Since the design approved by the Comoros government specifically used ulams and not everyday script they felt it was inappropriate for the flag outside the UN to have the wrong type of calligraphy. They sent an actual flag to the UN which was then used by Annin & Co to make replacement flags for UN use. (Another example of stylized arabic calligraphy can be found in the flag of Iran: the swords write out Allah, and the edge pattern says "Allah u ahkbar").
Graham Bartram, 23 Sep 1999