Flag and Symbols of Qatar

State of Qatar

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Flag of Qatar
Maroon with a broad white serrated band (nine white points) on the hoist side.

Ruled by the al-Thani family since the mid-1800s, Qatar transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for pearling into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Qatari economy was crippled by a continuous siphoning off of petroleum revenues by the amir, who had ruled the country since 1972. His son, the current Amir HAMAD bin Khalifa al-Thani, overthrew him in a bloodless coup in 1995. In 2001, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Oil and natural gas revenues enable Qatar to have one of the highest per capita incomes in the world. - CIA World Factbook.

Qatar - Fotw
Despite the near-villification of this flag over its individualistic approach to proportions, there is a fascinating story here.
www.fotw.us/flags/qa.html

Qatar - wikipedia.org
The name "Qatar" may derive from the same Arabic root as qatura which means "to exude." The word Qatura traces to the Arabic qatran meaning "tar" or "resin", which relates to the country's rich resources in petroleum and natural gas.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qatar

Qatar - U.S. Department of State
Natives of the Arabian Peninsula, most Qataris are descended from a number of migratory tribes that came to Qatar in the 18th century to escape the harsh conditions of the neighboring areas of Nejd and Al-Hasa. Some are descended from Omani tribes. Most of Qatar’s 885,359 inhabitants live in Doha, the capital. Foreigners with temporary residence status make up about three-fourths of the population. Foreign workers comprise 52% of the total population and make up about 89% of the total labor force. Most are South Asians, Egyptians, Palestinians, Jordanians, and Iranians. About 6,000 U.S. citizens reside in Qatar.
For centuries, the main sources of wealth were pearling, fishing, and trade. At one time, Qataris owned nearly one-third of the Persian Gulf fishing fleet. With the Great Depression and the introduction of Japan's cultured-pearl industry, pearling in Qatar declined drastically.
The Qataris are mainly Sunni "Wahhabi" Muslims. Islam is the official religion, and Islamic jurisprudence is the basis of Qatar's legal system. Arabic is the official language, and English is the lingua franca. Education is compulsory and free for all Arab residents 6-16 years old. Qatar has an increasingly high literacy rate.
www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5437.htm

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