Morocco’s flag is one of the world’s most instantly readable: a deep red field carrying a single five-pointed green star, outlined and interlaced like drawn rope. Both elements are older than the flag itself — here is what each carries.
The red field
Red has flown over Morocco for centuries as the colour of the ruling dynasties — associated with the sharifian houses that trace descent from the Prophet, and used by the Alaouite dynasty that has reigned since the 17th century. Before 1915 the flag was plain red; the star was added under Sultan Moulay Youssef to distinguish Morocco’s colours at a glance.
The green star: the Seal of Solomon
The five-pointed interlaced star is known as the khatam Sulayman — Solomon’s seal — a protective emblem long used across the region. Green is Islam’s colour; the five points are popularly read as the five pillars of the faith. Drawn interlaced (a continuous line, like a knot), it echoes the geometric tradition you will meet on every zellij wall and carved door in the country.
Where you’ll meet it travelling
Everywhere, affectionately: painted on Atlas hillsides, flying over kasbahs, stencilled on fishing boats — and, memorably, on the hot-air balloons that ride over the Marrakech countryside at dawn (our sunrise flight, from €190, floats beside one most mornings). November 18th’s independence celebrations and football nights turn whole medinas red and green.
The wider symbol family
The star shares Morocco’s symbolic shelf with the khamsa hand, the Amazigh ⵣ, and the calligraphy of the royal motto — God, Homeland, King — you will see picked out on hillsides. The cultural context behind all of them lives in our culture & etiquette FAQ, and travelling the symbols’ homeland is what our private circuits are for.
Zineb Lahlou — Zineb writes about Moroccan traditions, crafts and celebrations. She grew up between Fes and Casablanca in a family where every wedding involved three cities' worth of relatives, which turned out to be excellent training for explaining Moroccan social life to visitors. Her beat runs from zellij workshops to Gnaoua music to the etiquette of a hammam.
