Is It Permissible to Wear Clothing with Flags of Countries on Them?

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Question

I have a few shirts from a brand based in the USA. The shirts have the USA flag on the right arm. Nowadays, I don’t wear them anymore because I’m not sure if it is halal to wear shirts with flags of non-Muslim countries on them.

Would it be halal to wear a shirt that has the USA flag on it, or would it even be halal to wear a shirt that has a logo of a UK/Norwegian/Swedish/Swiss flag?

Answer

This is based on what the flags represent now in people’s minds. Flags that have a clear association in people’s minds with another religion or a group of sinful people (Fasiqun) whose flag represents their sinful actions or identity may not be worn.

Such clothing items are usually worn to revere the brand or the image of the people it represents or to imitate them on some level. Imitating the people of fisq (open disobedience of Allah) in those types of actions and imitating people of other religions in their religious actions is forbidden. (‘Itr, I’lam al-Anam)

The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever imitates a people, he’s from them.” (Abu Dawud) Based on the above, clothing with the flags of the countries you mentioned shouldn’t be a problem. These countries are not over manifestations of a particular religion, nor do the flags themselves show what is now immediately recognised as a religious symbol.

Even the crosses on the British flag or the English flag don’t make people think of the Christian crucifix due to them having lost their religious significance. Compare this to the Saudi flag, which is always going to represent Islam because of the Shahada on it, irrespective of the irreligious practices that occur in the country.

May Allah keep us firm on the way He chose for us.
Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began studying Arabic Grammar and Morphology whilst studying for a degree in English and History. After graduating, He traveled to Damascus and studied Arabic, Hanafi Fiqh, Usul al-Fiqh, Theology, and Logic with Shaykh Adnan Darwish, Shaykh ‘Abd al-Rahman Arjan al-Binsawi, Shaykh Husayn Darwish, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, the late Shaykh Rashad Shams, and others. He then moved to Amman to continue his studies in those fields, as well as in Tafsir, Quranic Sciences, Hadith Methodology and Commentary, Prophetic Biography, Prophetic Perfections and Traits, Rhetoric, Arabic Literature, and Tajwid. His teachers include Shaykh Ali Hani, Dr. Hamza al-Bakri, Dr Salah Abu al-Hajj, Dr Mansur Abu Zina, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, Shaykh Ahmad Jammal, and others.