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The flag of Israel was adopted on October 28, 1948, five months after the nation's independence. It depicts a blue Star of David on a white background, between two blue stripes. The shade of the color blue is not specifically mandated, and it varies from flag to flag. Sometimes it is a dark, almost navy blue, other times it is a very light sky blue.
It is modelled after the Jewish prayer shawl known as the Tallit.
It was first introduced by David Walfson in the First Zionist Convention. While this flag emphasizes Jewish religious symbols, Theodor Herzl wanted the flag to have more universal symbols: 7 golden stars symbolizing the 7-hour working quota of the enlightened state-to-be, which would have advanced socialist legislations. The flag itself was invented in Rishon LeZion, although the motif of "the Tallit is the flag of the Jewish people" can be attributed to earlier times and people.
It has been alleged, by those hostile to Israel, that the blue stripes actually represent the rivers Nile and Euphrates, implying that Israel seeks to claim all the lands between the two. Notably Yasser Arafat in a September, 1988 interview with Playboy Magazine made this allegation.
It has recently been suggested that additional symbols be added to the flag with which non-Jewish citizens of Israel, such as Israeli Arabs, would be able to identify.
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