Official Palestinian flag did not feature a Star of David in 1939

Multiple posts on social media are claiming the Palestinian flag in 1939 had a Star of David on it. 

Several posts feature an image of a flag gallery where the flag for ‘Palestine’ is blue and white with a golden Star of David in the centre. Some posts have claimed the image comes from the 1939 “Larousse French dictionary” or “Larousse encyclopedia”. Larousse is a French publisher known for encyclopaedias and dictionaries. 

Versions of the image have been circulating online since at least 2014.

One post sharing the image says: “Here’s what the ‘Palestinian’ flag looked like in 1939 in the Larousse French Dictionary. Half blue, half white, with the Star of David at the center”. Another post shares a larger image of the flag with the caption: “This is the Palestinian flag in 1939. Guess they were Jewish at one time, imagine that”. 

However, in 1939, the British Government was administering the territory that is Gaza, Israel and the West Bank today under the League of Nations’ British Mandate over Palestine. The Union Jack is reported to have been used as its official flag.  

A professor of Jewish History at Harvard University, Derek Penslar, confirmed to Full Fact that the Palestine flag was the Union Jack at this time, with slight variations for specific functions, but none of them featured the Star of David.

One flag reportedly used for ships registered to Palestine—rather than the British government—was a red ensign with the Union Jack in the upper left canton and a white circle with the word Palestine written inside. A similar blue ensign was also reportedly used.  

The Imperial War Museum archives show another flag for the Palestine High Commission, which has a circular badge saying “Palestine high commissioner” in the middle of a Union Jack. 

Following the end of the Mandate, the flag of the Arab Revolt was adopted by the ‘All Palestine Government’ in Gaza and recognised by the Arab League as the Palestinian flag. A modified version of this flag was formally endorsed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in 1964 and is now used by the Palestinian National Authority.

Where does the flag with the Star of David on it come from?

The flag shown in the online posts was never an official flag for the whole of mandate-era Palestine. 

Shay Hazkani, Associate professor at the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies, told Reuters that this was an “unofficial flag” that sometimes appeared on Jewish-owned ships during the period of the British Mandate over Palestine. 

Full Fact has contacted Larousse for comment and will update the article if we hear back. 

We’ve seen a significant amount of online misinformation concerning the Israel-Gaza conflict, including miscaptioned videos and fake articles—you can find more of our work fact checking these claims here.