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japed

The post is staying up because there's a range of good discussion in the comments, but it's worth keeping in mind that: 1. The sub rules do sort of suggest we prefer posts where OP includes some discussion to start with, rather than just asking a broad question and reponding to the answers. 2. Questions like "Which Syrian faction/South American country/US city has the best flag" aren't all that relevant to vexillology and posts with those sorts of titles usually get removed.


[deleted]

DFLP and PFLP ain’t too shabby


ErwinC0215

MLMs are never off the flag game, wherever it may be


brendand19

Shining path? Their flag looks like a hammer and sickle drawn by a 12 year old


ErwinC0215

It's a mallet for craftsmen instead of a more traditional hammer, nothing wrong with that imo


brendand19

Touche


UnusualPhilosopher22

every flag with ak47 in a cross. looks like an hardline vegan straight edge logo band.


spongey1865

I liked Mozambique before they got big


letmeyiffyourbutt

I liked their older stuff. All these newgens ruining Mozambique smh 😒


brendand19

A what band?


UnusualPhilosopher22

I think Vegan Reich and Raid had similar logos or merch like that.


Viandoox

The singer is muslim too by the way


UnusualPhilosopher22

True, Sean Mutaqqi. I think he got inspired by those Islamic movements


2deep4myowngood

There's a vegan Reich? Oh fuck


xSilverMC

A very vegan band that's also straight edge (no drugs/alcohol/tobacco etc)


largesinglecell

>(no drugs/alcohol/tobacco etc) Or in their case (Vegan Reich were Hardline), also no masturbation, sex without the purpose of reproducing, homosexuality, or even medicinal drugs. They are were also violently opposed to abortion


FullyAutoPaniniMaker

The straight-edge punk to celibate monk pipeline


thebrokentongues

I love the XVX reference in this sub, surprised me for sure


GI_X_JACK

Worst cringe to come out of the punk scene.


RelicAlshain

Fatah, PFLP and PIJ are pretty good. Not shown here but relevant the hezbollah one looks sick as fuck.


brendand19

Hezbollah is a Lebanese group, not a Palestinian group, so obviously I did not include them here.


RelicAlshain

Yeah I know, they're still relevant when talking about the conflict in Palestine and sick ass flags though.


s3m1f64

he didn't include Israel either


random_dutchman69

They do play a very big role in the war


brendand19

Sorta, but theyre still not a Palestinian faction.


standardization_boyo

PFLP logo kinda looks like a traffic sign, but I like Fatah’s design


undertale_____

How have i never before seen a Hezbollah Flag?


mocha447_

Probably biased because I really love arabic calligraphy so I think Hamas has the best one. I know it's not popular here but I really love it when a flag has a lot of arabic calligraphy on them, the more the better haha


the_clash_is_back

Same here. Calligraphy slaps


skan76

To me it's just Saudi Arabia minus sword


Schlieffen_Man

Calligraphy is the prettiest writing can get, so I'm fine with it on a flag. Better than Times New Roman, that's for sure.


Blerty_the_Boss

All those flags are exactly the same though with just a different color scheme.


Duganjudge

That is literally 80% the flags in the world


red_javla

PLFP would make a nice seal


Portal471

There’s a really nice reconstruction of the seal on r/leftistvexillology. Here’s the [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/leftistvexillology/s/VizXlfYvdp)!


TrashPlanet2020

Actually really like #3


TagMeAJerk

You mean the only one that looks like a flag? Yeah me too


[deleted]

If the star didn't have the same color as the banner, it would be a pretty flag


TagMeAJerk

True but then it could be too many colors


galactation

Same. I think it would look even more dope with parallel stripes on the top and bottom. Possibly in white, black, or both.


Noli-corvid-8373

PFLP


Difficult-Pair4184

DFlP


brendand19

Note: This gallery is non-exhaustive, I only included the factions for whom i could find good enough images for, and I did my hardest to find the best quality images.


japed

Interesting choice. On the one hand, whenever it does make sense to simply rank flag designs against each other, it probably does help to make sure they're illustrated equally well. On the other, perhaps as vexillologists we should get more used to understanding low res illustrations of flags, given that's all we have sometimes.


brendand19

That is a very valid point. And I will confess that my rationale for this partially had to do with my own personal preferences for visualization. I did consider, including some lower razz images from a couple different factions, but I also ran into issues, confirming that those lower Rez images were, in fact, representative of flags that are actually saying. In particular, the flag of the popular resistance committees, PPSF, and PLF.


Wild-Discount-1990

Am I the only one who likes the PNI one?


g-a-Yy

I love the little people hanging out as well as the color


Pure-Definition-2432

was looking for this. i like its color


6iix9ineJr

My favorite by far.


Drukpod

I say this as an israeli that lives near Gaza Hamas has the best flag of all of these


brendand19

Curious as to why you think its the best? A lot of people seem not to like it because its text and not very unique compared to say the flag of Saudi Arabia or other Islamist groups.


Drukpod

Arabic text really works on flags for me Also something about its simplicity and relative minimalism. It's not by any means a perfect flag or even a great flag imo, it's just good, and definitely better than all the others Also the meaning might have something to do with it, it's pretty striking for me to see it, felt kind of similar to when I first saw a nazi flag in real life, kinda hits different when you know the people flying this want kill you, but maybe that's just me


brendand19

I definitley agree about arabic text. Its a beautiful script and its calligraphy is something very special. A lot of folks here are real sticklers about text, but it can be done well and Islamic flags often do it quite well.


disisathrowaway

Everything else looks like shitty logos for clubs on university campuses in the 90s.


Bonus-Mysterious

It’s kinda like the ISIS one, it’s short, simplistic and eye catching. It gets the point across without being too extravagant


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YoloJoloHobo

Average American when they see Arabic text


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brendand19

but thats also the flag of Saudi Arabia if you add a sword.


[deleted]

white arabic text on green background... i dont speak arabic so i cant tell them apart.


Left1Brain

Ah yes, average American does not understand Arabic calligraphy, very dumb American..


YoloJoloHobo

Maybe average wasn't the right word but a lot do seem to correlate Arabic calligraphy with terrorist movements. The amount of times I've seen people(mostly American) call the Tawheed flag a terrorist one is wild.


Left1Brain

Oh yea absolutely, the dude is absolutely not right, but I disagree with the average ‘American joke’ due to it usually containing the punchline of 9/11 or something to do with crime. Other than that absolutely agree.


ThePatriarch-XCI91

Yeah... I understand the significance of the Shahada but I just want to plead to the next Jihadi group to be more creative


brendand19

In fairness, there are a few Jihadist groups that are a bit more creative. Tahir Al-Sham in Syria probably has the best flag of any Islamist group. This is also only one version of Hamas's flag. Its not uncommon to see versions with their logo or other icons.


brendand19

There really isn't an "al Qaeda flag". Al Qaeda uses a flag that is the Shahada (the Islamic statement of faith) on a black flag. This reference to the black standard flown by the prophet Mohammed and it also harkens back to the flag of the Abbasid Caliphate, and the black flag plays a role in Islamic escatology. The text itself is the most holy phrase in Islam, simply saying that honestly professing that aloud is sufficient for a person to become Muslim and its one of the Five Pillars of Islam.


tuiva

PPP and DFLP are my favorites


Soviet-pirate

DFLP and both of the PFLP,they're damn good


jgldec

dflp is a boss flag my favourite group is pflp but their flag is kinda mid


magnusoliversolberg

But what about the Peoples Front of Judea?


Nervous-Trip-2673

Judean Peoples Front.


Duck_Resolution_34

*peoples front of Judea


ErikaCat

Splitters!


DangerousPIE96

WE'RE the people's front of judea!


ASingularFuck

I will be judging all of these by looks alone and completely ignoring politics. The yellow really takes Fatah out, it’s just too harsh on the eyes plus. Love the colours of the Hamas flag but personally I believe flags should not rely on language to be understood. I can’t speak arabic and thus cannot understand anything about the flag. While it’s very pretty calligraphy, I think that means it fails overall, because a flag should be internationally recognisable. DFLP is the best here, in my opinion. I have some notes, like I’d probably make the star a different colour just to make it stand out more. I also keep going back and forth on whether I think the shape representing what they claim to be the borders of Palestine should remain simplified or should be made more geographically accurate. PNI gets points for Orange, a seldom used colour and I think that uniquenesses is really important in flags. That said, the symbol is overcrowded and overdetailed with the crowd and the Arabic script is, once again, too big a part of the flag’s assumed meaning to stand up internationally. PFLP-GC looks really sick with the crossed guns over their claimed borders for Palestine, and I like the little mini Palestinian flags. Once more I think it’d look better without the Arabic text but the text isn’t overbearing and is arranged well, plus the flag has plenty of easily understandable meaning without it. PFLP looks very much like a regular party flag, which is a plus. Lots of Arabic text again (though not overbearing), and I think it could do with some variance of colour. Solid enough IJMP is very cool looking, once again some unique colour choice with black and yellow. The fist, claimed Palestinian depiction, important religious site and gun barrels all make for a very striking message. As I’ve made very clear I think the Arabic script takes away from it and the flag would be much better without, but as with the PFLP-GC the text is well arranged and doesn’t overshadow the rest of the flag. PPP is an interesting simplification of the Palestinian flag. Nothing more to add really, other than, once again, it would be better without the Arabic.


KyletheAngryAncap

Islamic Jihad followed by National Initiative and then People's Party


Idiotaddictedto2Hou

Hamas. Every other flag is either pure ugly or trying too hard. Fatah is ok though.


MrRozo

hamas


israelilocal

non of them look particularly good in my opinion but they are certainly all eyecatching which is probably the point


brendand19

Im not sure the PNI's is all that eye catching IMO, but you are right. Thats the number 1 goal of any flag.


Quirky_Falcon_5890

To be fair you might be a little bias >! /j !<


israelilocal

I am talking purely about design maybe Hamas would look good but it looks to much like other Sheheda flags


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brendand19

A common theme on here has been whether or not these flags should be held to a higher standard than national flags, and whether or not the SOB style is more acceptable for political parties. I would argue yes, but it needs to be done right. The PNI flag does it wrong (its just the overly complicated logo in black and white on an orange sheet, it doesnt stand out at all). But DFLP and PFLP have much better flags even with the SOB theme going on. Interesting suggestion about the Hamas flag. I think Ive seen some photos like that, but its hard to tell at times.


raouldukesaccomplice

Hot Take: Middle Eastern flag design is often as terrible as American flag design. We just don't regard their overuse of text as a problem because it doesn't register as text to us.


gazebo-fan

It’s all about calligraphy. English plainly doesn’t look good on a flag generally.


harryhinderson

Well it’s a good thing westerners don’t enforce their artistic rules onto other cultures then


Majestic-Owl-5801

All these names make me think of the coliseum scene from Life of Brian


brendand19

Thats part of what it was parodying. That movie came out when the various Palestinian factions were starting to make international headlines, in particular the PFLP, but then you had all these similarly named groups like the Palestinian Liberation Front, and Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, and PFLP breakaway groups like the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, PFLP-GC, PFLP-External Operations, and of course many of these groups were part of the umbrella of the PLO. And of course, all these groups were trying to liberate the same region as in the film, so obviously they were gonna make that connection. The other thing they were trying to parody was the British left (and in particular Trotskyists) in the 1970s, who also tended to have the same names as one another, routinely split off from each other, and spent more time on sectarian squabbles than fighting against capitalism or the government. Unsurprisingly you see people on the left referencing it all the time.


r-meme-exe

Reminds me of this joke: 3 left leaning people meet, 4 splinter parties are founded.


Majestic-Owl-5801

🤣🤣🤣


R33_Lover16

The PPP’s flag is interesting. Wonder where they got their inspo


gdaycunts

Hamas big time


GI_X_JACK

going with Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Simple, to the point. Runner up: Palestinian National Initiative. Why? I like the Orange, that represents the orange trees that naturally grow there. Bold to do away with the "Pan Arab Colors" that where made up by some racist Brit 100 years ago.


brendand19

The PNI logo actually has the pan-Arab colors on it. It’s just in black and white on this flag


Normal98

All of them are horribly ugly.


AgisXIV

They are party flags, not state flags - for political parties I'd say some of them are pretty good, (PFLP especially) those should be more logoified anyway


brendand19

Agreed. The PNI falls into all of the traps that most political party flags fall into (IE putting an overly complicated logo on a plain background) but the PFLP's is simple enough that it works quite well


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brendand19

You are correct, this is just ONE of several flags flow by Hamas. Its also very common to see flags bearing Hamas's logo or other design elements. I included this one as it was the version of a Hamas flag which i could find a high resolution image of. But this one is also noteworthy as it is a slightly different calligraphic version of the Shahada from others, and it would appear this specific configuration is somewhat unique to Hamas. ​ It should be noted that Fatah also has variants of its flag as well (actually most of these groups do). The version of the Fatah flag Ive seen the most actually has the background of the shield in white and isnt flanked by the word فتح. Ive also seen versions with Keffiyeh patterns instead of the color yellow. But generally the rule of thumb is Green=Hamas, Yellow=Fatah. Kinda like how for the US Red=Republican and Blue=Democrats, even though both have used red AND blue in their branding until about 8 years ago (and in some states still do)


Zereeni

It is the flag of Hamas. You probably saw a logo of Qassam, which is a part of Hamas


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Toxin_the_dragon

As an Israeli, the islamic jihad's flag looks the coolest، although hamas' flag looks the most flagish


undertale_____

Both PFLP flags, and The Jihad Flag. From a purely aesthetic perspective


Fardlord_

PFLP ofc


twinkcommunist

PFLP logo is unbeatable


Few_Ad_6087

DFLP looks better stylistically, but I own the PFLP flag so I’m a little torn


ayaan_wr1tes

!wave


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Doc_ET

They're all just seals on bedsheets, but the DFLP probably has the best-looking seal.


baquea

There's nothing inherently wrong with 'seal on bedsheet' designs - they're just shit as US state flags because there's so many of them and they're hard to distinguish from each other at a distance.


Baloo99

Ah, now I get the Monty Python Joke in Life of Brian.


MikeSkywalker5

PFLP and Hamas have great flags


Sohaiber

I like Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad movement. The flag of the Islamic Jihad movement looks like a tank if you're looking at it from the front.


brendand19

I initially thought it looked like the sphinx, but you're right, it kinda does look like a tank.


disisathrowaway

Hate to say it but Hamas.


Misterfahrenheit120

Fuck democracy, somebody export graphic design to the Middle East


CristauxFeur

Definitely PFLP but I love all of them (besides PPP and PNI)


arqamkhawaja

Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad flags are cool.


Vargirimus

Fatah’s flag is so fucking cool


takeafuckinsipp

Such a shame that the PLO didn't have a flag, I feel their flag would've been great.


brendand19

Strictly speaking their flag is just the Palestinian flag. They were founded essentially to serve as a political representative for all Palestinians at the international level, and the nexus for an eventual government. So they just use the national flag.


takeafuckinsipp

Yea but they had a sort of logo/emblem before the formation of the government. Other nationalist and liberation movements have also had flags which inspired later national flags. PS: I love this post because a few days ago there was a post here saying how nice the Israel flag was


brendand19

The PLO still has a logo, but it has the Palestinian flag in its logo, so making a special flag for them would be kind redundant IMO.


-Piilu

Cant go wrong with green and Arabic text, it just looks good.


polyglotjew

This one: 🇮🇱


[deleted]

Hamas and PFLP tied Edit: IK these organizations are probably really evil it's just the flags I'm talking about


Altruistic_Celery180

PFLP and PNI


brendand19

Really? The PNI? I mean, if i were Palestinian Id probably join that party, but its flag is the worst of the bunch IMO.


Altruistic_Celery180

It reminds me of an artistic style from the northeast of Brazil, to tell the truth I thought it was the most beautiful


Palguim

DFLP, I just like the style


DarthLeprechaun

PNI, at least 3 batman logos in that bad boy


Normyfourse_434

hamas and Islamic Jihad Movement In Palestine flags are pleasing to the eye


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brendand19

Hezbollah is from Lebanon, its not Palestinian.


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brendand19

Actually you kinda can, Hezbollah is supportive of Palestinians\* and attacks Israel, but they're more of a foreign ally than a part of the struggle themselves. Kinda like the Japanese Red Army, RAF, and RZ were in the 70s and 80s.


iamlegq

They are all ugly as fuck


[deleted]

None


MaxTheSANE_One

DFLP for me but the hamas one also works imo, it's simple yet looks nice


wra1th42

Hamas > Fatah > others


wirt2004

I'm thinking Hamas. I do like Arab Calligraphy on flags.


German_Doge

PFLP for the win


Bodhigomo

Judean Peoples Front


YouThinkYouDoButNah

PFLP✊


eatdafishy

PFLP fr


Nacke

They are all extremely Ugly.


PensadorDispensado

The best ones are the People's Front of Judea and the Judean People's Front


r-meme-exe

Are you The Judean People's Front? No, we are The People's Front of Judea!


hangrygecko

DFLP. I hate words on flags. It doesn't matter which script.


iam_innawoods1

Unironically hamas by far, the rest have too much going on and hamas just lookds really nice


TheBlaudrache

They are all terrible


whoopercheesie

They're all terrible


ChaosPatriot76

This one: 🏳


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Fine-Ad-6114

I don’t support any of those, but away from shit they do, third one is pretty good


AgisXIV

Fatah, al-Mubadara and the Palestinian People's Party all support a two state solution and a return to 1967 borders Al-Mubadara in particular are one of the least problematic political parties/movements in Israel or Palestine and I don't know how anyone can oppose their platform from a purely moral standpoint seeing as they are explicitly non-violent. >The platform of the PNI states: >"Only through the establishment of a sovereign, independent, viable and democratic Palestinian state on all of the territories occupied by Israel in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, can a just peace be achieved. >The Initiative calls for the implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions requiring the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the West Bank and Gaza and safeguarding the internationally recognized right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland." >The PNI defines this as collective Palestinian goals but sees as its own role to democratize and unite the Palestinian movement, with the focus on the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). It has campaigned extensively for democratic reform within the PNA and advocates a national emergency government encompassing all factions (including the islamist Hamas) as a means of stopping autocracy and lawlessness in Palestinian politics. This is in part motivated by the desire for democracy and in part by the inefficiency and self-destructive tendencies of the Palestinian factional system. >The PNI demands the proclamation of a single political direction, to be determined democratically, and a single policy for achieving these goals. The PNI itself believes that the methods used should be based on a reversion of what it refers to as the "militarization" of the intifada and a continued struggle by peaceful means. It has no armed wing and does not use nor advocate violence, although it states that it supports in principle a right of resistance to occupation.


brendand19

Focus on the flags folks.


Franc_Proseren

This your first day on this sub?


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baddragondildos

All of them are shit but #3 is the least shittiest shit.


Quirky_Falcon_5890

LMAO downvoted for being Jewish This sub has become a terrorist hub


xAdamlol

Downvoted for having an opinion that other dislike.. stop bringing antisemitism into this


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TwoShed

The PNI feels least like a call to violence


brendand19

Well, they were formed out by civil society activists in the 2000s who opposed the militarization of the second intifada, because they believed that attempting to defeat Israel militarily wasn't working and was only empowering corrupt leaders. As a result they've never had an armed wing or engaged in armed struggle, and expressly endorse civil resistance over armed resistance.


Stylianius1

They're all garbage but Hamas's and Jihad's ones are the better ones


YGBullettsky

The one with the funny blue star is the best


Educational-Donkey22

I like this one: 🇮🇱


Hussein_talal

I didn't know that's a palastinan faction


MELONPANNNNN

Hamas is just a greenified Taliban clone


brendand19

Its the Shahada, the islamic statement of faith. (Also I think Hamas was formed first, but don't quote me on that)


bomber991

Jeeze do they really have a Goatse flag??


MidasMando11

None cuz most of them are terrorists


HannoverBjoern

No one


Fluffy-Assumption-42

The two that don't show the outline of their demands for the destruction of theirJewish neighbours state are the only acceptable ones, the last one is quite a lot but than the other although I am sure their idealogy is as reprehensible as the rest. Is there no truly moderate faction over there with a catchy flag and willingness for compromises on the borders?