The Arabic inscription on the flag, written in the Thuluth script, is the shahada or Islamic declaration of faith:

لَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله ومُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ الله

lā ʾilāha ʾillā l-Lāh wa Muḥammadun rasūlu l-Lāh

"There is no god but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God"

The shahada in the Saudi flag with individual words highlighted in different colors. Word order shown by color key at bottom. (Read from right to left)

The green of the flag represents Islam and the sword stands for the House of Saud, the founding dynasty of the country, or the military strength and prowess of Saudi Arabia.

The flag is manufactured with identical obverse and reverse sides, to ensure the shahada reads correctly, from right to left, from either side. The sword points to the left on both sides, in the direction of the script. The flag is sinister hoisted, meaning that it is hoisted to the left of the flagpole, as viewed from the obverse (front) side. (Flagpole is to the right of the flag). The green used in the flag is Pantone 330 c / CMYK (%) C 100 - M 0 - Y 50 - K 50[4]