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Nation of Islam (U.S.)

Use uncertain - web graphic

by Richard Knipel, modified by António Martins-Tuválkin

About the flag

See also:

About the flag

The "Nation of Islam" movement is a black/Muslim movement directed by Reverend Louis Farrakhan. The flag is described as "the symbol of unity of all Muslims throughout the World". It is a horizontally-mirrored version of the national Turkish flag (i.e. with crescent opposed and pointing to hoist).
Ivan Sache, 4 August 1998

According to the website at www.noi.org (particularly the flags photo rather than the logo), you see that this is not merely a backwards Turkish flag. Both the crescent and particularly the star are much larger, and the star is oriented with two points inside the crescent. They also say this: "The Flag of Islam with the symbols of the Sun, Moon, and the Stars, represent the Universe and is also a Banner of Universal peace and Harmony." I have seen this flag design with capital letters at the corners, starting from the upper hoist going clockwise: J, F, I, E. I have seen this on other logo depictions, but never on a flag, and so I have excluded it.
Richard Knipel, 13 July 2004

Apparently there are variations to this flag used by various individuals. I have seen a few, so I don't know if there is any "one" design.
Rick Wyatt, 13 July 2004

The letters J, F, I, E should actually be read in this order F, J, E, I as they stand for Freedom, Justice and Equality, Islam. For only Freedom, Justice and Equality for All regardless of Race, or Creed or Colour achieves Islam (Peace).
Anonymous e-mail, 25 October 2004

Concerning actual flags in use as such, I found four more or less distinct designs.

I. Original flag with white border and four words

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 May 2018

This is presented on the cover of The Flag of Islam (https://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/81215/1/the-flag-of-islam, https://www.smashwords.com/extreader/), a 1974 book [ejm74] by Elijah Muhammad, leader of NoI in 1934-1975 (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Muhammad). The contents of the book (22 pages) are in typical religious revelation style.

It is a ~2:3 red flag with a a star-and-crescent (in Tunisian style, i.e. the star inside the concavity of the crescent) on the right hand side and pointing leftwards, and a very wide white border (thickness ~24% of the flag’s height); on it, along its diagonals, red lettering reading "justice" (upper right), "equality" (lower right), "freedom" (upper left), and "Islam" (lower right) in sans serif grotesque capitals (typeface similar to Futura Light).

It is not clear from the book illustration which is the intended orientation of the flag (therefore I didn’t use hoist and fly directions in the description), both possibilities being arguable: sinister hoisted (therefore, crescent pointing to the fly) and dexter hoisted (therefore, crescent pointing to the hoist).
António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 May 2018

II. Square flag with initials and large emblem

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 May 2018

A red square with a large crescent-and-star (fully in Tunisian style) with the initials of the same four words — "J" (upper right), "E" (lower right), "F" (upper left), and "I" (lower right) as white serif capitals. This idealized design is in widespread use at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noi_flag_2.svg.

This design, distorted to simulate perspective, was used as an icon in some NoI web presences, as said, and can still be seen at http://s248.photobucket.com/user/ProfessorofTruth/media/Nation%20of%20Islam/NationofIslamflag.gif.html and, linearized, at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Noi_flag_2.png (where it notably is not used in any Wikipedia article).

The orthogonal form, undistorted, it is widely used online as an icon, including some flagoids, such as https://i.pinimg.com/originals/77/6a/20/776a20072605ef6380dddf3b5a794ac7.png. Here as a patch appliquéd to clothing items: https://www.etsy.com/listing/588039093/nation-of-islam-short-sleeve-t-shirt or https://www.etsy.com/listing/574914260/nation-of-islam-flag-classic-dad-cap (the latter stretched to an oblong, flag-like ratio).

The square emblem, lacking the letters, can be seen as a logo at NoI facilities: See https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20051030-161112-08-E-Nation-of-Islam-mosque.jpg and https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nation_of_Islam,_Indianapolis.jpg, among many others.

III. Rectangular flag with initials

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 May 2018

An oblong version of the square flag with initials, redesigned as such and not merely stretched (as mentioned above), can also be seen in flag-like use, such as in this Alamy.COM graphic http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-flag-green-skin-black-swarthy-jetblack-deep-black-moon-freedom-liberty-141946712.html, in parallel with the African American flag.

IV. Revised logo = current flag?

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 May 2018

As late as 2013 as simpler design was published in the NoI website as its "revised logo", implying that it replaces previous ones (https://www.noi.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/revised_noi_logo.png). It is a rectangular design approx. 2:3 (almost exactly 23:36), plain red with only a crescent-and-star facing the left and placed at the right, with no words nor initials.

The diameter of the circle inscribing the crescent is 2/3rds of the flag’s height and the star, still placed within its concavity, is smaller than in the flag of Tunisia.

Again, it is not clear which side is meant to be the hoist, and the reverse of the design can only be inferred to be chiral. Only direct witnessing of actual flags in hoisted use can dispel this uncertainty.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 2 May 2018