Video shows people holding Sudanese not Palestinian flag

A video is being shared on social media with claims it shows “African refugees” in Greece holding a Palestinian flag. But this is not correct. 

In the clip, a group of cheering men appear to be posing for a photo in front of a barbed wire fence while holding a flag with red, white and black stripes and a green triangle. Overlaid text says in Arabic: “Samos island Greece Transfer to Athens” (translated by Google). It has been captioned: “African refugees arriving in Greece unfurled the Palestinian flag.”

But while the flag resembles the Palestinian flag, it’s actually the flag of Sudan. 

The Sudanese flag has three horizontal stripes with red at the top, white in the middle and black at the bottom. It has a green triangle along the hoist of the flag. While the Palestinian flag has a similar pattern, it has horizontal stripes with black at the top, white in the middle and green at the bottom, and a smaller, red triangle in the same position. 

Full Fact has not verified the identity of the people in the video or where it was filmed. 

In April 2023, rising tensions between Sudan’s army and a powerful paramilitary group in the country escalated into conflict that has killed over 15,000. The International Centre for Migration Policy Development reports more than 8 million people have been displaced. People from Sudan made up 2.4% of sea arrivals to Greece in the first eight months of 2024.

We’ve written about other claims relating to flags since the start of the conflict in the Middle East, including an edited photo appearing to show Israeli soldiers holding an ‘ISIS flag’ and false claims that the official Palestinian flag featured a Star of David in 1939. 

You can find more of our debunking misinformation concerning the Middle East on our website.