The ink flag

At the end of September 2012, one of the most famous generals in the Israeli army passed away. He was 86 years old and his name is Abraham (Bern) Adan. When Bern was 23 years old he was a company commander who lifted up a flag that was drawn with ink (Degel Hadyo, Hebrew: דגל הדיו)

This flag was lifted up by Bern in a place that’s called “Um Rashrash”, today it is the southern point in the state of Israel, the city of Eilat.
The famous picture with Bern that climbed and lifted up the flag is one of the most memorable moments in the history of Israel.

The flag was the idea of Nachum Sarig the commander of the brigade, who saw that his brigade didn’t have any flag of Israel, while they were fighting with the Jordan Legion. After he commanded one of his soldiers to create a flag, the secretary of the brigade, named Pua’ah Er’el, took a white sheet and by using ink she draw the flag that was lifted up by Bern.

The Ink flag was lifted up by Bern on 10 March 1949 after the occupation of the police station in Umm Rashrash. The lifting up of the flag was actually the culmination of an Operation that was called “‘Uvdah”. It was the last operation of the war of independence and the main factor in shaping Israel’s borders in the south of Israel.