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# Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

## Abu Zaby

Last modified: 2026-08-01 by rob raeside
Keywords: abu dhabi | united arab emirates | emirates heritage club |
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1:2 image by Željko Heimer

- Description
- Civil and Air Ensigns
- Ensign until 1958
- Flag until c.1968
- Flag c.1899-c.1901
- Abu Dhabi Sports Council
- Supreme Petroleum Council
- Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC

See also:

- Al Dafrah Region Municipality
- Abu Dhabi Chamber
- Abu Dhabi Customs
- Abu Dhabi Civil Defence Authority
- Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development
- Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge
- Abu Dhabi Department of Government Enablement
- Abu Dhabi Environment Agency
- Abu Dhabi Judicial Department
- Abu Dhabi Police
- Educational Institutions

## Description

A red flag with a white canton, a variant of the no. 1 flag described in the General Maritime Treaty 1820.
Santiago Dotor, 18 April 2001

Red flag with white canton, width 1/3 of the hoist, length 1/3 of fly. Source: Album des Pavillons (2000). A note explains that this flag is often replaced with the Union flag.
Željko Heimer, 31 July 2001

The construction details given by the Album 2000 and quoted by Željko are correct according to The "Flag Law for the Year 1969" (Law No. 1 of 1969), published in Official Gazette No. 1 of January 1969:

> Article 3:
> The flag shall consist of the colours white and red, and it shall be rectangular in shape so that its length equals double its width.
> Article 4:
> The white colour shall be at the upper part of the right side of the flag as shown in the diagram,
> Article 5:
> The proportions of the length and width of the white colour to those of the red shall be as shown in the diagram provided that this does not effect the total stipulated length and width of the flag.

The diagram mentioned above shows a flag with the canton on the right in the Islamic manner - a canton which occupies one-third of the width by one-third of the length.
Christopher Southworth, 6 June 2004

Just arrived in Abu Dhabi and was quite interested to see that the Abu Dhabi flag is nowhere to be seen outside of the Emirate's crest. The UAE flag is is everywhere.
Ruppert Baird, 13 January 2013

## Civil and Air Ensigns

I believe the current emirates have civil ensigns. I have the civil ensign and the air ensign of Abu Dhabi.
Jaume Ollé, 14 June 1999

## Ensign until 1958

1:3 image by Santiago Dotor

Santiago Dotor asked, "when did Abu Dhabi reduce its hoist stripe to a canton?". In 1958, at first at sea. On land the flag was still plain red. Only later the plain flag was abolished for the canton-flag. But I still do not know when, might be around 1968.
Ralf Stelter, 20 April 2001

## Flag until c.1968

1:3 image by Santiago Dotor

## Flag c.1899-c.1901

1:2? image by Christian Berghänel, 19 October 2002

I am still researching the history of the Arab Emirates' flags. One of the unsolved questions is what did the green flag of Abu Dhabi (used for about ten years) look like.
Ralf Stelter, 19 April 2001

A plate from the Flag Research Center's Corpus Vexillorum Mundi (CVM): National Flags issued in 1986 deals with the green flag of Abu Dhabi:

> The color plate CVM 00007 represents the national flag at sea (also presumably used on land) of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, a semi-independent state protected by the United Kingdom, as displayed no earlier than October 1899 until approximately October 1901. This flag is documented in Lorimer's Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Volume I, Part I, p. 744, and the historical précis of the Indian Government prepared in 1906 by Mr. Saldanha.

Please note: The proportions are not specified but circa 1:2 in the picture. The green colour is not specified either, might be slightly darker.
Christian Berghänel, 19 October 2002

## United Arab Emirates University

image by Santiago Tazón

## Abu Dhabi Sports Council

image located by Esteban Rivera, 6 February 2023

Abu Dhabi Sports Council, ADSC (مجلس أبوظبي الرياضي) was established in 2006. ADSC is aligned to the emirate’s leadership vision to develop sport and youth activities. The Council promotes an effective, emirate-wide sports calendar that stimulates the desire to participate in quality sports among all Abu Dhabi residents and helps the talented and motivated reach their sporting potential.
Source: https://www.adsc.ae/en/about-us/
The flag is a white horizontal background with the logo in the middle.
Image source: https://www.adsc.ae/, source: https://www.adsc.ae/en/media-center

Logo

image located by Esteban Rivera, 6 February 2023
Source: https://www.facebook.com/photo, (https://www.facebook.com/AbuDhabiSportsCouncil)

For additional information go to ADSC (official website): https://www.adsc.ae/

Esteban Rivera, 6 February 2023

## Supreme Petroleum Council

image located by Esteban Rivera, 6 February 2023

Supreme Petroleum Council (Abu Dhabi) (المجلس الأعلى للبترول (أبو ظبي) is the highest governing body of oil, gas and similar industry-related activities in Abu Dhabi. The Council was formed established by Law No. 1, 1988 although other sources (https://www.adnoc.ae/en/our-story/our-heritage) mention 1981. The Council also acts as the board of directors for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. On December 27, 2020, president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, the ruler of Abu Dhabi, announced the establishment of a new council, Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (source: https://thearabweekly.com/uae-merges-supreme-petroleum-council-new-economic-body) that would also oversee matters relating to petroleum and natural resources putting an end to Supreme Petroleum Council (sources: https://www.reuters.com and https://www.hindustantimes.com).
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Petroleum_Council
The flag is a white horizontal background with the in the middle.
Source: https://alwatan.ae/, source: https://alwatan.ae/?p=707518
Esteban Rivera, 6 February 2023

Logo

image located by Esteban Rivera, 6 February 2023
Source: https://www.albayan.ae

For additional information go to ADSC (official website): https://www.adsc.ae/

For additional information go to ADNOC Supreme Petroleum Council (official website: https://www.adnoc.ae/ar/about-us/supreme-petroleum-council

Esteban Rivera, 6 February 2023

## Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC

image located by Esteban Rivera, 10 March 2023

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, was established in November, 1971. It traces its origins to 1937 when the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, led an expedition of 16 tribesmen to the south-west of Abu Dhabi, where his vision for the development of the UAE’s oil and gas resources was born. In 1939, the signing of the first concession took place. After an extensive search that took several decades, oil was discovered in the United Arab Emirates in 1958, at the Murban Bab oil field, the well, known as Murban-3, was completed in May 1960.
Sources: https://www.adnoc.ae/en/our-story/who-we-are
https://www.adnoc.ae/en/our-story/our-heritage
https://www.adnoc.ae/en/our-story/our-heritage/energy-for-our-nation
https://ar.wikipedia.org
The flag is the logo on a white horizontal background in the middle.

For additional information go to ADNOC (official website): https://www.adnoc.ae/

Esteban Rivera, 10 March 2023

Logo

image located by Esteban Rivera, 10 March 2023
Source: https://www.brandsoftheworld.com/logo/adnoc