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Israel – Flag Proposals in "Ha'Degel" 1948

Introduction
Proposal no.1 in Ha'Degel 1948
Proposal no.2 in Ha'Degel 1948
Proposal no.3 in Ha'Degel 1948
Proposal no.4 in Ha'Degel 1948
Proposal no.5 in Ha'Degel 1948
Proposal no.6 in Ha'Degel 1948
Proposal no.7 in Ha'Degel 1948
Proposal no.8 in Ha'Degel 1948

See also:

Introduction

Željko Heimer asked about flag designs he saw in Ha'Degel (The Flag), a 1948 Israeli book (in Hebrew) [Nimtza-bi 1948, [niz48]]. The designs were all in blue and white and incorporated the Israel flag in one way or other. I recently located the book at the National Library and found out that these designs are the author's suggestions for a flag for Israel. He explains that since the Zionist Movement as a political movement would still exist, its flag could not become the flag of Israel as a state. In this situation the Zionists in the Diaspora would be using a flag of a foreign nation which would raise the problem of loyalty. So the flag of Hebrew nationalism and Zionism and the flag of the State of Israel should be distinct, but the latter could incorporate the former, as in the designs illustrated.

I do not know what was done with the suggested designs in the book, but I read elsewhere that the Provisional Government had this consideration in mind too and for that reason the Israeli national flag was officially proclaimed only in October while the merchant flag was adopted in May. Eventually the Zionist flag did became the national flag and indeed in some places and times the Zionists had problems.

Nahum Shereshevsky, 8 September 1997

After receiving the book named Ha'Degel from Nahum, there are some remarks about the Israel proposals' images sent by Željko Heimer. Those proposals are from the above mentioned book (written by M. Nimtza-bi in 1948) and are based on his idea that using the Zionist Movement flag (also used as the Jewish nation flag) as the national flag of Isreal could cause troubles to Jews in the diaspora since when they should use the flag as the Jewish nation flag they would be using a foreign country's flag, a thing that might be not be acceptable by local authorities. Therefore, the writer suggested to use the flag as a basis for a new national flag and he brought eight examples.
Dov Gutterman, 20 February 1999

From the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Flag and Emblem webpage [retrieved]:

In July 1948, Mordechai Nimtza-bi, an expert on heraldry, published a book entitled The Flag, in which he sought to determine the appropriate design for the national flag. Nimtza-bi agreed with Sharett that the Zionist flag should be adopted by the State of Israel but also — that this was not possible. "Even after the establishment of the State, many Jews will continue to live in the Diaspora, and were the Zionist flag to become the state flag, these Jews, who are nationals of their countries of residence, would be flying the flag of a foreign country," he wrote. Nimtza-bi was well versed in the rules of heraldry, especially of the British Empire. The flags of some members of the British Commonwealth incorporated the Union Jack either in the corner, or the center. In his various proposals for the Israeli flag (Figure 8) [picture, see also below], Nimtza-bi wished to impart to the State of Israel spiritual authority vis-à-vis the Zionist organizations worldwide, similar to the relationship between Great Britain and the dominions. He created many variations on the Zionist flag. The Provisional Council of State did not accept any of his proposals, nor those submitted by the public at large.

Santiago Dotor, 18 October 2002

It should be noticed that the exact specs given in this book [niz48] for what become the Israeli national flag differ from those we have at Specifications and Construction Sheet (and which are commonly given by all modern sources, as far as I can tell). While on this page we learn that the author favoured the notion that the then new national flag (this is a 1948 book, the very year the flag was adopted in its current form) should not be the same as that of the Zionist Movement, it is however interesting to compare the detailed specs given in this book for what was hitherto the said flag of the Zionist Movement with those of what would that same year become the national flag of Israel – the white flag with a blue Magen David centered between two blue horizontal stripes. The specs given in [niz48] (see archived scans of p.28 formerly in eBay at https://ghostarchive.org/archive/OJgI7 and https://ghostarchive.org/archive/deX1U are:

Overall flag ratio
Instead of the much squatter 8:11, p.28 of [niz48] gives a more oblong quadrangle shape, in three options:
a) 90 cm × 170 cm
b) 120 cm × 230 cm
c) 150 cm × 280 cm
(The above in the original with "cm" and ordinal letters in its Hebrew equivalents, of course.) Those three sets of measurements are all in different exact ratios, and seem to be preset flag sizes for manufacture and protocol, not the ideal free scale unbound anamorphic fixed ratio we would rather always have instead.
These three possible ratios are all very close to each other, slightly greater (i.e., less oblong) than the 1:2 this book illustrates all other flags as, and much smaller (i.e., more oblong) than the official 8:11: 1:2=0.5000 > 12:23≅0.5217 > 9:17≅0.5294 > 15:28≅0.5357 < 8:11=0.7272

Stripes
This book [niz48] on its p.28 of gives all measurements of the flag design in 1/180ths (except for its width, see above for ratio), with the horizontal stripes of the flag being described as 18+24+96+24+18. This is reducible to 3+4+16+4+3, which is not the same as the 3+5+16+5+3 specs found in most sources, incl. official ones – see Specifications and Construction Sheet.

Magen David
This book [niz48] on its p.28 of gives all measurements of the flag design in 1/180ths (except for its width, see above for ratio), with the the stroke countouring each triangle being 7/180ths wide, the imaginary circle inscribing the hexagram having a radius of 43/180ths, thus its diameter and concomitantly the distance between any two opposing tips and the height of the whole emblem as on the flag all being therefore 86/180ths, which leaves a 5/180ths gap between each of the vertical tips of the emblem and the edge of the nearest blue stripe, at top and bottom.
Again this doesn't agree in detail with the specs found in most sources, incl. official ones – see Specifications and Construction Sheet.
(I should add that the drawing of the Magen David on p.28 of [niz48] is not the most rigorous, with the central void hexagon noticeably not fully symmetric. However, the geometric construction of this symbol is trivial and only the ratio between its diameter or radius and the stroke width – given here as 86:7 – is needed to "lock" its ideal rendering.)
In conclusion: Compared to the official specs, [niz48] preconized a much more oblong flag, with a slightly larger Magen David, closer to thinner, "looser" stripes.

Shade of blue
(See archived scans at https://ghostarchive.org/archive/zTNRj and at https://ghostarchive.org/archive/1tXp7)
As said this book [niz48] has two pages (unnumbered, seemingly close to the middle of the book) printed with an additional blue ink, which could be said to be more light than dark in absolute terms – therefore B- in FIAV notation (However, at Specifications and Construction Sheet Željko Heimer's renderings of the proposals presented on one of these two pages use B+ instead). Given technical constraints, it's hard to say how exact this is meant to be. I presume that the color of tekhelet is meant, but only by reading the text we'll learn what [niz48] had to say about the shade of blue.
I would note that the mentioned 2×2 foreign national flags illustrated in black and white (solid, not Pietra Sancta on this page), on the same page as the large blue rendering of the Zionist/Israeli flag, are all also mostly blue on white flags, arguably even light blue on white: Finland, Greece, Uruguay, and Nicaragua (q.v. these in the other messages of this same thread).

It's a very interesting and unique book (judging from the images, at least), with examples and explanations about flag protocol concerning its use when hoisted on buildings, displayed at indoor events, or flown in parades, incl. its precedence along with other flags.

António Martins, 2 December 2024

I think Nimtza-bi made a tactical error when made new proposals for the Israeli national flag. His reasons were understandable, the Zionist Flag should not look the same as the Israeli national flag, in order to avoid possible legal problems by showing an official national flag (although the case for a national homeland for the Jews is synonymous with Zionism). But it was too late for a new national flag, which already was so well-known and cherished by so many. Instead his eight proposals (see below) should have been – if at all – for a new Zionist Flag. The opposition to change the Zionist flag would not have been that big, as it was the case for the national flag, I suppose.
Martin Karner, 3 December 2024

Israel – Flag Proposals in "Ha'Degel" 1948

Introduction

Proposal no.1 in Ha'Degel 1948

Proposal no.2 in Ha'Degel 1948

Proposal no.3 in Ha'Degel 1948

Proposal no.4 in Ha'Degel 1948

Proposal no.5 in Ha'Degel 1948

Proposal no.6 in Ha'Degel 1948

Proposal no.7 in Ha'Degel 1948

Proposal no.8 in Ha'Degel 1948