Hejaz

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Historic region of Saudi Arabia, on the Red Sea; area about 290,000 sq km/111,970 sq mi. A former independent kingdom, it merged in 1932 with Nejd to form Saudi Arabia. Historically its principal city has been Mecca. The other main cities are Jiddah, on the coast, Taif, a mountain resort at an altitude of 1,800 m/5,905 ft, and Medina.

History
The territory has been variously under Abbasid and Egyptian rule and, until World War I, under the Ottoman Empire. Partly with the intent of holding their empire together, the Ottomans completed the pilgrim railway in 1908, from Damascus to Medina down the length of the Hejaz. During World War I the railway was badly damaged by Arabs rebelling, under the leadership of T E Lawrence, against Turkish rule, and since 1918 the line has been abandoned south of Ma'an in Jordan. From 1918 the Hejaz was ruled by Hussein Ibn-Ali until its conquest in 1924 by Ibn Saud. It was consolidated as a dual kingdom with Nejd in 1926 and the two were united in 1932 as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The wingless dragon holds jewels in its claws to represent prosperity. Saffron yellow symbolizes the power of the monarchy. Orange-red stands for Buddhism. Effective date: c. 1971. >>