From the ancient Sabaean kingdom of legendary wealth, home to the Queen of Sheba story, through a millennium of Islamic-era rule and the centuries-old Zaidi Imamate of the northern highlands, Ottoman and British colonial-era division into a northern kingdom-turned-republic and a southern Marxist state, reunification in 1990, to the civil war that has fractured the country's actual governance since 2014–15.
Yemen's modern flag — plain red, white, and black, no emblem — has flown over a unified state only since 1990, a shorter run than the north-south split that came before it; the two halves' pan-Arab tricolors, one crowned with a green star, the other with a red star in a blue triangle, are the direct ancestors of the flag that still flies today.
Scope of this page: the lands of present-day Yemen, ancient South Arabia to present, nine political entries including a genuine north/south split from 1918/1839 to 1990. The map below does carry a real internal split for that span — one of the best-documented internal partitions in this whole atlas. The 2014–15 civil war is noted factually and neutrally; Yemen's flag has not changed in law since 1990 even though on-the-ground control is currently contested among several factions. Part of a larger atlas — see the linked pages at the bottom.
North & South Yemen, 1839–1990
Yemen's own real coastline, split along the line that separated British-controlled Aden and its hinterland from the northern highlands — a division that hardened into two entirely separate, internationally recognized states, the Yemen Arab Republic and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, before 1990's reunification. Press play, or drag the slider.
This is one of the atlas's strongest cases for a real internal split. Unlike the earlier ancient kingdoms, where no unified Yemeni state existed at all, 1839–1990 saw the territory genuinely governed as two separate pieces for a century and a half straight — first colonial/Ottoman, then a kingdom-turned-republic against a Marxist state, each with its own flag, capital, and currency. The line below solidifies for that whole span and dissolves only twice: never before 1839 (no partition existed to dissolve), and permanently after the 22 May 1990 union.
c. 1200 BCE
Sabaean Kingdom
Real traced coastline, split along an approximate historical North/South line (schematic, not surveyed) — the border dissolves before 1839 and after 1990.
How we know this. 8 of 8 eras on this page carry an evidence panel (2 attested, 3 placeholder image, 3 not yet checked). Only the ones marked attested are confirmed by the sources named under them; where sources disagree or a claim could not be confirmed, the panel says so.
plain red-white-black tricolor, unchanged in law since 1990
1990 – present
Republic of Yemen (reunified)
RepublicAli Abdullah SalehIslam (constitutional state religion)
Migration & conquest:Immigration: Yemeni workers expelled from Saudi Arabia (1990–91)Emigration: civil-war refugees (2015–)
Who & why: North and South Yemen formally unite on 22 May 1990, ending 72 years of separate northern and southern statehood, under President Ali Abdullah Saleh. A brief 1994 civil war fails to break the union apart. Since 2014–15, however, a civil war between the Houthi movement, the internationally recognized government, and a Southern Transitional Council seeking southern autonomy has left the country's actual governance fractured among multiple authorities, even as the 1990 flag remains the country's sole legal one throughout.
What it represents: a plain pan-Arab red-white-black tricolor, deliberately stripped of either predecessor state's own emblem (North Yemen's green star, South Yemen's star-in-triangle) as a neutral symbol for the newly unified republic.
Attestedhow we know this
Wikipedia's infobox and FOTW's main page both give 22 May 1990 for the flag, the date Yemen was formed by the union of North and South; FOTW's North Yemen page adds that the new flag removed the star of the Yemen Arab Republic's flag. Both describe a red-white-black tricolour without an emblem.
North Yemen — Flags of the World (CRW Flags) compiled
Not established: Only the adoption date and the removal of the star were compared; whether the flag was neutral 'deliberately', as this page says, and the swatch colours are not stated by these sources.
Paint guide
Proportions2:3, three equal horizontal bands.
LayoutPlain red-white-black tricolor, no emblem.
Red#A4302A
White#F4EFE1
Black#241F14
North (green star) & South (blue triangle, red star)
1967/1962 – 1990
North Yemen (Arab Republic) / South Yemen (People's Democratic Republic)
North: RepublicSouth: Marxist stateNorth: Abdullah as-SallalSouth: Qahtan al-ShaabiNorth: Islam (state religion)South: Islam (constitutional, despite Marxist rule)
Migration & conquest:Emigration: Indian merchant community from Aden (post-1967)Emigration: labor migrants to the Gulf (1970s–)
Who & why: a 1962 republican coup ends the northern Zaidi Imamate and founds the Yemen Arab Republic; in the south, the National Liberation Front drives out the British in November 1967, and by 1970 the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen declares itself the only Marxist state ever to govern in the Arab world. The two Yemens fight several border wars and briefly attempt unification talks before finally merging in 1990.
What it represents: Wikipedia says the Yemen Arab Republic adopted a red-white-black tricolor with one green star in the white band on 1 November 1962 (slightly adapted from 26 September 1962) and relinquished it on 22 May 1990, and that South Yemen (PDRY) adopted a flag on 30 November 1967 with a light blue triangle for the people and a red star near the hoist for the National Liberation Front, later the Socialist Party. Flags of the World's pages on North and South Yemen agree on the designs and dates (hoisted 1 November 1962; introduced about 30 November 1967), though its main Yemen page covers only the 1990 flag.
Attestedhow we know this
Wikipedia: Yemen Arab Republic flag adopted 1 November 1962 (red-white-black tricolour with one green star), relinquished 22 May 1990; PDRY flag adopted 30 November 1967 with a light blue triangle and red star near the hoist. FOTW's North Yemen page: the same tricolour with a green five-pointed star in the white stripe, hoisted 1 November 1962 (the UAR flag with one star removed); FOTW's South Yemen page: red-white-black tricolour with a light blue hoist triangle containing a red five-pointed star, introduced about 30 November 1967.
North Yemen — Flags of the World (CRW Flags) compiled
South Yemen — Flags of the World (CRW Flags) compiled
Not established: The two publishers agree on design and dates; FOTW's date for the southern flag is 'about 30 November 1967'. Wikipedia's wording on the symbolism (triangle for the people, star for the NLF) is not in FOTW.
Paint guide
Proportions2:3, both flags.
LayoutNorth: red-white-black tricolor, green five-pointed star centered. South (from 1970): red-white-black tricolor, pale-blue triangle at hoist with a red star.
Red#A4302A
North star, green#0B7A3D
South triangle, blue#1E5FAE
Zaidi Imamate's plain red banner, sword and stars (reconstructed)
1918 – 1962/1967
Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (North) & British Aden (South)
Imamate / ColonyImam Yahya Muhammad Hamid ed-DinZaidi Islam (Imamate state religion)
Migration & conquest:Emigration: Yemenite Jews to Israel (1949–50)
Ruling house:Hamiddudin dynasty
Who & why: the Ottoman collapse at the end of World War I lets Imam Yahya's Zaidi Imamate assert full independence in the north in 1918, ruling as the Mutawakkilite Kingdom until a 1962 republican revolution. The south stays under separate British rule throughout this span — Aden itself a Crown Colony from 1937, the surrounding sheikhdoms a loose protectorate — the two halves developing along entirely separate tracks decades before either used the word "Yemen" for a unified state.
What it represents: Wikipedia says the Kingdom of Yemen (Mutawakkilite) used its flag until the imam was overthrown in 1962, royalists keeping it to 1970, with captions dating variants 1918-23, 1923-27 and 1927-70. Flags of the World, whose wording Wikipedia repeats, says the flag adopted in 1927 was red with a white sabre and five stars (from National Geographic, 1951), so a red field with sword and stars is supported for 1927-1962 but not described for 1918-1927. For the south, Wikipedia and Flags of the World give the Aden Colony's Blue Ensign with a dhow badge for 1937-1963, and Wikipedia says the Protectorate of South Arabia used the Union Jack as its general emblem; that is not 'British colonial ensigns throughout' 1918-67 as stated here.
Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this
FOTW's Kingdom of Yemen page: the kingdom was nominally Ottoman until 1918 and independent after; its flag 'adopted in 1927' was red with a white sabre and five stars (National Geographic 1951), in use until 1962 and by the royalists to 1970; the imam's own flag was red with the shahada. Wikipedia repeats FOTW's wording about the kingdom and adds caption dates 1918-23, 1923-27 and 1927-70. For the south, FOTW and Wikipedia give the Aden Colony Blue Ensign with a dhow badge from 1937 (the flag in use until 18 January 1963) and Wikipedia says the Protectorate of South Arabia used the Union Jack.
Colony of Aden — Flags of the World (CRW Flags) compiled
Not established: Wikipedia's text on the kingdom is copied from FOTW, so the two are not independent there. Designs for 1918-1927 are not described, and the page's British Aden 'colonial ensigns throughout' is not supported before 1937 (FOTW: Aden was part of British India until then). A Yemeni or museum source for the Mutawakkilite flag was not found.
Paint guide
ProportionsNo fixed ratio recorded; shown at 3:2.
LayoutPlain red field, white sword and five stars (variants existed).
Red#A4302A
White#F4EFE1
plain red field — Aden's colonial-era trading ensign (reconstructed)
1839 – 1918
Aden under British control / Ottoman northern Yemen
Colonial / Ottoman suzeraintyNo single ruler documentedSunni Islam (Ottoman north); no state religion in Aden
Migration & conquest:Immigration: Indian & Somali traders into Aden
Who & why: the British East India Company seizes Aden in 1839 to secure a coaling station on the route to India, beginning well over a century of British presence in the south. The north, by contrast, comes back under direct Ottoman control from 1849, administered as the Yemen Vilayet, though the Zaidi Imamate in the highlands never fully submits and periodically revolts — a genuinely split, contested span rather than one Yemen under one flag.
What it represents: Aden flies British colonial ensigns; the Ottoman-controlled north flies Ottoman provincial banners. Neither is a distinctly "Yemeni" flag in this period, so this entry is an honest bridging placeholder rather than an invented national banner. The sources read do not cover Aden's colonial flags before 1937 or Ottoman provincial banners in the north; Wikipedia says only that Yemen was nominally Ottoman until 1918. The sources read do not cover Aden's colonial flags before 1937 or Ottoman provincial banners in the north; Wikipedia says only that Yemen was nominally Ottoman until 1918.
Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this
Wikipedia and FOTW's Kingdom of Yemen page say Yemen was nominally Ottoman until 1918. FOTW's British-rule pages say Aden was a dependency, then a Chief Commissioner's province, of British India until 1 April 1937, when it became a Crown colony and its Governor needed a new Union Jack and Blue Ensign badge (the Chief Commissioner had flown the 'Viceroy's Union').
Not established: No source read gives a flag for Aden in 1839-1937 beyond the Viceroy's Union of the Chief Commissioner, nor Ottoman provincial banners for the north; the plain red field is the page's own placeholder.
Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no distinct Yemeni national flag in this period.
plain green field — Zaidi Imamate's traditional color (reconstructed)
897 – 1839
Zaidi Imamate of the highlands (with Ottoman and Ayyubid-era interludes)
Who & why: the Zaidi Imamate is founded in the northern highlands in 897, one of the longest-running continuous political institutions in the Islamic world, though it never controls all of Yemen at once. The Ayyubid dynasty conquers much of the country in 1173 as part of Saladin's wider campaigns, followed by the independent Rasulid Sultanate (1229–1454), and the Ottomans occupy the coastal lowlands twice — the 16th century and again from 1849 — without ever fully subduing the highland Imamate.
What it represents: no single flag can be attributed across this near-millennium span; green, tied to the Zaidi Imamate's own religious and dynastic identity, is the best-attested traditional color, shown here as an informed reconstruction. The sources read (Wikipedia and Flags of the World) do not mention the Zaidi Imamate or any flag of this span, so green as its colour is not confirmed by them. The sources read (Wikipedia and Flags of the World) do not mention the Zaidi Imamate or any flag of this span, so green as its colour is not confirmed by them.
Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this
Neither Wikipedia's flag article nor FOTW's Yemen, North Yemen, South Yemen and Kingdom of Yemen pages mention the Zaidi Imamate before the 20th century or any flag for 897-1839; FOTW notes only the imam's flag of the twentieth century (red with the shahada).
Not established: Green as a Zaidi colour and any Ayyubid, Rasulid or Ottoman interlude flags are not covered by any source read.
Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no fixed flag; shown as a reconstruction.
placeholder maroon field — early Islamic conquest era, no flag survives
630 – 897
Early Islamic Yemen (Rashidun through Abbasid-era rule)
Caliphal suzeraintyBadhan (last Persian governor, converted c. 628)Islam (early caliphal era)
Migration & conquest:Emigration: Yemeni tribes with the early conquests
Who & why: Yemen converts to Islam and comes under Rashidun, then Umayyad, then Abbasid caliphal authority from the 630s, ending centuries of independent South Arabian kingship. Direct caliphal control loosens well before the Zaidi Imamate's own 897 founding, leaving a patchwork of local governors and rival claimants across the intervening decades.
What it represents: no flag in the modern territorial sense survives from this era; various caliphates used banners rather than fixed national flags, and none can be attributed to Yemen specifically. Shown here honestly blank rather than invented.
Placeholder imagehow we know this
This page's own caption calls the image a placeholder: «placeholder maroon field — early Islamic conquest era, no flag survives».
Not established: Whether a flag, banner or standard existed in this period was not checked. The colour shown is not evidence of one.
Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.
placeholder maroon field — Himyarite Kingdom, no flag survives
c. 110 BCE – 630 CE
Himyarite Kingdom
KingdomNo single ruler documentedSouth Arabian polytheism (Almaqah)
Migration & conquest:Conquered by: Aksum, then Sasanian Persia (525–570s)
Who & why: the Himyarite Kingdom rises around 110 BCE and eventually absorbs the older Sabaean and Qatabanian kingdoms, unifying most of South Arabia under one crown by the 3rd century CE — a prosperous incense- and spice-trade power with its own writing system and monumental architecture, later touched by both Christian and Jewish royal conversions before Aksumite and then Sasanian Persian intervention ends its independence around 570–575.
What it represents: no flag survives or is securely attested from this pre-Islamic kingdom; ancient South Arabian polities used royal insignia and inscriptions rather than fixed territorial banners. Shown here honestly blank rather than invented.
Placeholder imagehow we know this
This page's own caption calls the image a placeholder: «placeholder maroon field — Himyarite Kingdom, no flag survives».
Not established: Whether a flag, banner or standard existed in this period was not checked. The colour shown is not evidence of one.
Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.
placeholder maroon field — Sabaean Kingdom, no flag survives
c. 1200 – 110 BCE
Sabaean Kingdom
KingdomNo single ruler documentedSouth Arabian polytheism (Almaqah)
Who & why: the Sabaean Kingdom, centered on the great Marib Dam and its irrigation-fed agriculture, grows wealthy controlling the overland incense trade from around 1200 BCE, and is the kingdom traditionally identified with the biblical and Quranic Queen of Sheba, who is said to have visited King Solomon. It remains the dominant South Arabian power for the better part of a millennium before Himyarite rivals eventually eclipse it.
What it represents: no flag survives or is securely attested from this Bronze and Iron Age kingdom; its own royal inscriptions and dedications at Marib and elsewhere serve as its historical record instead. Shown here honestly blank rather than invented.
Placeholder imagehow we know this
This page's own caption calls the image a placeholder: «placeholder maroon field — Sabaean Kingdom, no flag survives».
Not established: Whether a flag, banner or standard existed in this period was not checked. The colour shown is not evidence of one.
Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.
Reading the tags
Colonial / caliphal suzerainty — no independent Yemeni flag
Kingdom / Imamate — sovereign under its own ruler
Republic — elected or revolutionary government
Marxist state — one-party socialist government
Leader — the named ruler most associated with the era's start
State religion — the official/established faith, not the population's
Find the records
Family history research for Yemen lives in a different project, Record Atlas, which maps which archive actually holds the paper for a given place and era.