The national flag of Lebanon is formed of two horizontal red stripes enveloping a horizontal white stripe. The white stripe is twice the height (width) of the red ones —a Spanish fess. The green cedar in the middle touches each of the red stripes and its width is one third of the width of the flag. The red stripes represent the bloodshed by those who fought for Lebanon. The white stripe represents purity, peace and the snow-capped mountains of Lebanon. The cedar tree represents the Christians in Lebanon and is mentioned in the Bible many times.

The Emirate of Mount Lebanon was a part of Mount Lebanon that enjoyed variable degrees of partial autonomy under the stable suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire between the mid-16th and the early-19th century.