Syria left the union on 28 September 1961 following the 1961 Syrian coup d'état.

[2] The flag would be readopted by Ba'athist Syria in 1980, leading to its use as a symbol of Neo-Ba'athism.

The colors were taken from the Arab Liberation Flag that was used in Egypt since the 1952 Egyptian revolution.

The black stood for the experience of colonial oppression endured by Arabs, the red symbolized the sacrifices and bloodshed in the fight for liberation from colonial rule, and white signified peace and bright future envisioned for independent Arab states.

It was briefly used by North Yemen between 27 September and 1 November 1962 during the North Yemen civil war and was used as the flag of the Syrian Arab Republic under Ba'athist rule between 1980 and 2024.