Unit of length, used on ships, originally the length of a ship's anchor cable or 120 fathoms (219 m/720 ft), but now taken as one-tenth of a nautical mile (185.3 m/608 ft).
White was added to the flag to identify Bahrain as a friendly state. Red was the traditional colour of the Kharijite Sect. In 2002 the number of serrations were reduced to five, possibly representing the five pillars of Islam. Effective date: 19 August 1972.