The Ink Flag (, ''Degel HaDyo'') was a handmade

Israeli flag The flag of the State of Israel ( ; ) was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. It consists of a white background with a blue Star of David in the centre and two horizontal blue stripes at the ...

raised in March 1949 during the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

to mark the capture of Umm Rashrash. The flag’s display in what later became the city of

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

was replaced two hours later by an official flag when the

Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade (, ''Hativat Golani'') is an Israeli military infantry brigade. It is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Is ...

arrived. The raising of the Ink Flag is considered to be the end of the war and the birth of Israel.

History

On 5 March 1949, Israel launched

Operation Uvda Operation Uvda (, ''Mivtza Uvda'') was an operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, from 5 March to 10 March 1949. It was the last campaign undertaken by the IDF during the war and its objective was to ...

, the last military maneuver of the

. On 10 March, the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

reached the shores of the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

at Umm Rashrash, west of

Aqaba Aqaba ( , ; , ) is the only coastal city in Jordan and the largest and most populous city on the Gulf of Aqaba. Situated in southernmost Jordan, Aqaba is the administrative center of the Aqaba Governorate. The city had a population of 148, ...

in the area of biblical

Elath Elath (; ; , Ἀηλά, Αἴλανα, Αἰλανίτης, Αἰλανή, Ἐλάνα, Αἴλανον, Αἰλάς, Αἰλάθ, Αἰλών, Ἡλάθ, Αϊλά), or Eloth, was an ancient city mentioned in several places in the Hebrew Bible on ...

, and captured it without a battle. The

Negev Brigade The Negev Brigade (, ''Hativat HaNegev''), originally the 12th Brigade is an Israeli Reserve duty (Israel), reserve infantry brigade under the Sinai Division, that originally served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. History Founding and organizatio ...

and

took part in the operation. A makeshift flag created from a white sheet inscribed with ink was raised by Captain (later General) Avraham Adan, company commander of the 8th Battalion of the Negev Brigade. The improvised flag was made on the order of Negev Brigade commander Nahum Sarig, when it was discovered that the brigade did not have an

on hand. The soldiers found a sheet, drew two ink stripes, and sewed on a

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

torn off a first-aid kit. In Eilat, a bronze sculpture by Israeli sculptor Daniel KafriDANIEL KAFRI sculpture
commemorates the event, unveiled on 28 February 1996. This historical place was already declared a

National Heritage Site A national heritage site is a heritage site having a value that has been registered by a governmental agency as being of national importance to the cultural heritage or history of that country. Usually such sites are listed in a heritage regis ...

on 19 January 1994. The photo of the raising of the Ink Flag, taken by the soldier Micha Perry, bears resemblance to the 1945 American photo ''

Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima is an iconic photograph of six United States Marines raising the U.S. flag atop Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in the final stages of the Pacific War. Taken by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press on February 23, 1945, the p ...

''.Former IDF general, Israeli icon Avraham Adan, dies at 86

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

Gallery

File:Flag of Israel (1948).svg, Digitised rendition of the Ink Flag File:Degel HaDyo - sculpture.jpg, Commemorative sculpture by Daniel Kafri File:רשרש4.jpg, Close-up of the statue's representation of Avraham Adan, the man on the pole

References

External links

{{Commons category, Ink Flag
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Speech on Eilat Day - 56 Years Since the Raising of the Ink Flag, March 20th, 2005
1948 Arab–Israeli War 1949 in Israel Eilat in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict Israel National Heritage Site Black-and-white photographs Special events flags War photographs Flags in art 1949 in art 1949 photographs Flags of Israel Flags introduced in 1949 Inks Photography in Israel