The national flag of Tunisia is a rectangular panel of red color with an aspect ratio of 2:3.

The Tunisian Bey Hussein II decided to create a flag for Tunisia, close in appearance to the modern one, after the Battle of Navarino on 20 October 1827; in 1831 he was officially approved.

Until the mid-18th century, the design and significance of maritime flags flying on ships in Tunis are unknown.

However, various sources have been able to distinguish certain similarities among the flags: they were designed with a crescent-oriented shape in the presence of the colors blue, green, red, and white.

[1] Thereafter, and until the early 19th century, the flag was composed of horizontal blue, red and green stripes, which are the colors of the ruling Husainid dynasty.

This flag was most likely a simple personal banner of the ruler,[3] as it floated above the Bardo Palace, the Citadel of Tunis, on navy ships, and also in the center of the coat of arms in Tunisia.

[2][4] Believed to have been introduced by Hussein II, although some sources, such as Abdel-Wahab, claim that it was in use three centuries earlier,[3] the flag was rectangular in shape and divided into nine stripes, the middle one green and double the size of all other bands, while the others alternated between yellow and red.

[2] Featured in the center of the green stripe was the Zulfiqar, the legendary Islamic sword of Ali, with the blade in white and the hilt multicolored.

[2] Several Muslim countries along the south coast of the Mediterranean Sea used a plain red naval flag.

[12][13] He added: Tunisia, a French protectorate, retained its national flag on land and at sea.

[14] Confusion arose when an issue of the French daily newspaper Le Petit Journal, published on 24 July 1904 on the occasion of the bey of Tunis's visit to France, reproduced an illustration showing the flag used while he was visiting the Hôtel de Ville, Paris.

99-56 of 30 June 1999,[18][19] adopted on 3 July[20] by the Chamber of Deputies, formalized the Tunisian flag for the first time in law, clarifying Article 4 of the constitution.

[18] In addition, at the top of the flag used by the President of the Republic, the words "for the nation" (Arabic: لِلوَطَن) are written in gold.

[35] The colors of the flag are included in other Tunisian symbols, such as the coat of arms, which contains a crescent and star enclosed in a disk with red border.