The Constitution of Lebanon was adopted on 23 May 1926. Article 11, on the Official National Language, declares that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language may be used." The most recent amendment of the Constitution was for the Charter of Lebanese National Reconciliation (Ta'if Accord), in October, 1989. In an attempt to maintain equality between Christians and Muslims, Article 24 of the constitution mandates the distribution of offices on the basis of Confessionalism as an interim measure, but does not specify how they are to be allocated. (See

National Pact The National Pact ( ar, الميثاق الوطني, translit-std=DIN, translit=al Mithaq al Watani) is an unwritten agreement that laid the foundation of Lebanon as a multiconfessional state following negotiations between the Shia, Sunni, and ...

.) It does, nevertheless, specify that half the seats shall be given to Christians and half to Muslims. Article 24 in its entirety reads as follows. The constitution describes the

flag of Lebanon The national flag of Lebanon ( ar, علم لبنان) is formed of two horizontal red stripes enveloping a horizontal white stripe. The white stripe is twice the height (width) of the red ones (ratio 1:2:1)—a Spanish fess. The green cedar (L ...

. The original version of ''Article 5'' read "The Lebanese flag is blue, white, red with a

cedar Cedar may refer to: Trees and plants *''Cedrus'', common English name cedar, an Old-World genus of coniferous trees in the plant family Pinaceae *Cedar (plant), a list of trees and plants known as cedar Places United States * Cedar, Arizona * ...

in the white part". A change made on 7 December 1943 indicated that "The Lebanese flag is made of red, white and red horizontal stripes, with the cedar in green in the centre of the white stripe". Some flag manufacturers have created a more conventional looking

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

, with a brown trunk. Some allege that this is

unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

. A scholarly reference book on the Lebanese Constitution, describing its history and citing its full text as well as all its amendments was published in 1968 by Shafik Jiha and Wadih Chbat.Constitution of Lebanon: History, Text, Amendements, DDC Classification: 342.56202. Publisher: Beit-el-Hikmah, Beirut, 1968.

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* 1930 French version of the Constitution of Lebanon in: 1926 in Lebanon Government of Lebanon

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

Law of Lebanon Politics of Lebanon {{Lebanon-poli-stub

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