National symbols of Israel are the

symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

s that are used in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and abroad to represent the country and its people.

National flag – flag of Israel

The flag of Israel is the official flag of the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, which represents the state, its sovereignty, its institutions, and its citizens both in Israel and worldwide. This flag has a white background and two horizontal blue stripes, charged with a blue

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 ...

(''Magen David'') in the middle. The flag was conceived during the period of the

First Aliyah The First Aliyah (), also known as the agriculture Aliyah, was a major wave of Jewish immigration (''aliyah'') to History of Israel#Ottoman period , Ottoman Palestine (region) , Palestine between 1881 and 1903. Jews who migrated in this wave cam ...

and was adopted as the flag of the

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

since the movement's inception in 1897. The flag was officially chosen as the flag of the State of Israel on 28 October 1948, and was favoured over other flag proposals mainly due to its popularity among the Jewish population of Israel. The two blue stripes represent a ''

tallit A tallit, taleth, or tallis is a fringed garment worn as a prayer shawl by religious Jews. The tallit has special twined and knotted fringe (trim), fringes known as ''tzitzit'' attached to its four corners. The cloth part is known as the ''beged ...

'' or prayer shawl, and both sides of the split Red Sea that the Hebrews walked through as written in the

Book of Exodus The Book of Exodus (from ; ''Šəmōṯ'', 'Names'; ) is the second book of the Bible. It is the first part of the narrative of the Exodus, the origin myth of the Israelites, in which they leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through the strength of ...

. The Star of David also represents the Jewish identity of Israel, as well as the culture and history of the Jewish people.

National emblem – emblem of Israel

The emblem of Israel is an escutcheon which contains a menorah in its center, two olive branches on both sides of the menorah and at the bottom the label "Israel" in Hebrew. The emblem was designed by brothers Gabriel and Maxim Shamir, and was officially chosen on 10 February 1949 from among many other proposals submitted as part of a 1948 design competition.

National anthem – "Hatikvah"

Hatikvah Hatikvah (, ; ) is the national anthem of the Israel, State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish literature, Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic poetry, Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-old desire of the Jews, Jewish people ...

" is the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

. The anthem was written in 1878 by Naphtali Herz Imber, a secular Galician

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

from Zolochiv (today in

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. The capital city, capital of the oblast is the city of Lviv. The current population is History Name The region is named ...

), who moved to the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

in the early 1880s. The music to Hatikvah was composed by Samuel (Shmuel) Cohen, adapted from a Romanian folk song, in 1888. The poem was subsequently adopted as the anthem of

Hovevei Zion The Lovers of Zion, also ''Hovevei Zion'' () or ''Hibbat Zion'' (, ), were a variety of proto-Zionist organizations founded in 1881 in response to the anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire and were officially constituted as a group at a conf ...

and later of the

Zionist Movement Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly co ...

at the

First Zionist Congress The First Zionist Congress () was the inaugural congress of the Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization (ZO) held in the Stadtcasino Basel in the city of Basel on August 29–31, 1897. Two hundred and eight delegates from 17 countries and 2 ...

in 1897. The text subsequently underwent a number of other changes. "Hatikvah" is one of only a few national anthems in the world which is in a

minor scale In Classical_music, Western classical music theory, the minor scale refers to three Scale (music), scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending). ...

, such as "

Mila Rodino "" ( ; ) is the national anthem of Bulgaria. It was composed and written by Tsvetan Radoslavov as he left to fight in the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885. It was adopted in 1964. Its lyrics have been changed many times, most recently in 1990. On 12 J ...

" (

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

) and "

Menıñ Qazaqstanym "Menıñ Qazaqstanym" ('My Kazakhstan') is the national anthem of Kazakhstan since 7 January 2006, replacing the Anthem of the Republic of Kazakhstan, previous anthem first used upon Kazakhstan#Independence, independence in 1991. It is based o ...

" (

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

); the anthems of some other Asian countries are of a different tonality such as

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. Though it sounds mournful, the song is optimistic and uplifting as the title (which means "hope") suggests. The anthem's theme revolves around the nearly 2,000-year-old hope of the Jewish people for freedom and sovereignty in the Land of Israel, a national dream that was later realised with the founding of the modern State of Israel in 1948.

National colors – blue and white

The

national colours National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols. Many states and nations have formally adopted a set of colours as their official "national colours" while others have '' de facto'' national colours that have become well ...

of Israel are officially blue and white as seen on the

flag of Israel 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 ...

. The origin of the combination of these colors is from the Bible, in which they are mentioned in several instances. Blue and white are also the traditional team colours of the Israel national sporting teams.

Unofficial national symbols

The following nation symbols are unofficial. They were often chosen by selection processes held or sponsored by government agencies, but they have no official legal status.

National bird – Hoopoe

The hoopoe was chosen as the

national bird This is a list of national birds, including official birds of overseas territories and other states described as nations. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. The column is marked a ...

of the

in May 2008 in conjunction with the country's 60th anniversary, following a national survey of 155,000 citizens, outpolling the white-spectacled bulbul. The hoopoe was declared as the national bird of the State of Israel on 29 May 2008 by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

National flower – ''Anemone coronaria''

In September 2007 the cyclamen (, more exactly '' Cyclamen persicum'') was elected as the national flower of the State of Israel and as its official representative in the botanical exhibition "We Are One World" held in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. The cyclamen won over by a small margin over the ''

Anemone coronaria ''Anemone coronaria'', the poppy anemone, Spanish marigold, or windflower, is a species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to the Mediterranean region. Description ''Anemone coronaria'' is a herbaceous perennial ...

'' (6,509 compared with 6,053 votes) in a poll conducted among visitors of the popular Israeli website

Ynet Ynet (stylized in all lowercase) is an Israeli news and general-content website, and the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronoth'' newspaper. History Ynet launched on June 6, 2000, in Hebrew, following other Hebrew outlet's website launches ...

. However, in November 2013 the

Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (, ''HaHevra LeHaganat HaTeva''), or SPNI, is an Israeli non-profit environmental organization working to preserve plants, animals, and natural environments that represent bio-diversity, by protectin ...

() and Ynet arranged a larger poll, in which the ''Anemone coronaria'' (כלנית מצויה) was elected as Israel's national flower.הכלנית: הזוכה בתחרות "הפרח של ישראל"

, November 25, 2013.

National dog – Canaan Dog

The Canaan Dog is the national dog

breed A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist seve ...

of Israel. The Canaan Dog is a member of the pariah-type dogs, a sub family of the

spitz A spitz (; , in reference to the pointed muzzle) is a Dog type, type of domestic dog consisting of between 50 and 70 breeds depending on classification. There is no precise definition of 'spitz' but typically most spitz breeds have pricked ears ...

group of dogs. The Canaan Dog has been very common in the

Southern Levant The Southern Levant is a geographical region that corresponds approximately to present-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan; some definitions also include southern Lebanon, southern Syria and the Sinai Peninsula. As a strictly geographical descript ...

region, from Sinai to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. The breed was recognized by the Israeli Association of Dog Handlers in 1963 and in 1966 the breed was also recognized as Israel's national dog breed by the

Fédération Cynologique Internationale The (; FCI; ) is the largest international federation of national kennel clubs and purebred registries. The FCI is based in Thuin, Belgium and has 98 members and contract partners (one from each country). History The FCI was founded in 1911 un ...

National butterfly – Common blue

The Common blue (, ''Polyommatus icarus'') was elected as the national butterfly of the State of Israel in 2023.

National tree - Olive

The olive was elected as the national tree of Israel in 2021, with a majority of 33% vote polled by the Jewish National Fund.

References

External links

Facts about Israel: The State
at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs website {{DEFAULTSORT:National Symbols Of Israel Israel-related lists