During the Abbasid Revolution, the Abbasids incorporated the Black Standard based on the early Islamic eschatological saying that 'a people coming from the East with black banners' would herald the arrival of the messianic figure Mahdi. The Umayyad Caliphate, which ruled the largest geographical extent of the medieval Islamic Empire, adopted white flags. Banners of the early Muslim armies in general, however, employed a variety of colors, both singly and in combination. Other examples are the prominent Arab military commander 'Amr ibn al-'As using a red banner, and the Khawarij rebels using a red banner as well. In the Islamic tradition, Muhammad used the white flag to represent both the leader of the Muslim army and the Muslim state.

This larger flag was known as the 'Banner of the Eagle' ( Arabic: الراية العقاب, romanized: al-rāyat al-ʿuqāb), as well as the ' Black Banner' ( Arabic: الراية السوداء, romanized: al-rāyat as-sawdāʾ). It further states that Muhammad had a banner in white nicknamed 'the Young Eagle' ( Arabic: العقاب, al-ʿuqāb) and a flag in black, said to be made from his wife Aisha's head-cloth. According to the Islamic traditions, the Quraysh had a black banner and a white-and-black banner. Early Islamic flags, however, greatly simplified its design by using plain color, due to the Islamic prescriptions on aniconism. Early Muslim army naturally deployed banners for the same purpose. Before the advent of Islam, banners as tools for signaling had already been employed by the pre-Islamic Arab tribes and the Byzantines.

White flag vs red flag empire game