Flag for the Jewish Diaspora — 2025
Disclaimer: This flag is not meant to be provocative or as a partisan statement on the current situation in Palestine-Israel or the activism that surrounds it. I made this flag for a much more personal reason, that being that I do not feel that the flag of Israel adequately represents me as a Jew. As much as I appreciate the idea of the flag being viewed by some as a "Flag for the Jews" I personally look at the Israeli flag as just that, a flag for the state of Israel.
I was born in Canada and have lived here all my life. I'm very happy with my life in Canada and with Canadian culture. But Israel, from what l've seen and heard, is a completely foreign land to me, both culturally and politically, I understand that the land itself is very culturally significant to the Jewish people, and I very much respect that, but even then, I feel a much more spiritual connection to the biblical Israel of ancient times than I do of the modern state. And finally, the political climate of the state of Israel has made its flag a most contentious symbol, and the harsh politicization of its image is unfortunately too much of a factor in its usage for me to feel comfortable calling it my own.
In short: The flag of Israel carries far too much baggage, both culturally and politically, for me to want to adopt it as a flag for myself being a Jew who is comfortable where she is. I don't feel that it adequately represents my identity, it is almost completely foreign to me, I've seen some Jews that feel the same way as me, and so that is the reason why l've created this Diaspora Flag.
Description: The flag features four colours, red, yellow, green, and dark blue. In the foreground of the flag is its centrepiece, the blade of a plowshare with the ten commandments sitting behind it, on the commandments are the first ten letters of the Hebrew Alef-Bet.
The design of the centrepiece is lifted from the historical diaspora movement "Am Olam" who's representative symbol was that of a plow and the ten commandments. The plow in this context represents the desire to build a safe and prosperous Jewish home in the diaspora, while the ten commandments represent the Jewish people as well as our Torah, which is the founding document and core of our people and our tradition.
The flag's background depicts a green field and a red sky with seven beams of yellow sunlight emitting from behind the centrepiece.
The green represents the hope that the lands we inhabit will be rich and providing for everyone, and the red sky represents dawn, in the hope that one day the sun may rise on a land where all people are equal and no one is subjugated or pushed out for their race, ethnicity, religion, etc. the seven beams of the sun also represent the seven branches of the Temple Menorah, which is a nod to Jerusalem, a place that still holds a major significance to the Jewish people and our tradition. No matter where we now choose to live, we shall always remember and hold with reverence the land from which our tradition came.
