Al-Husayn II ibn Mahmud Bey

Al-Husayn II Bey ruled Tunis from 1824 to 1835. His reign witnessed dramatic geopolitical changes, notably the destruction of the joint Ottoman-Egyptian-Tunisian fleet at the Battle of Navarino (1827) and the French invasion of neighboring Algiers in 1830.

Following Navarino, Husayn II decreed in October 1827 the adoption of a distinctive red naval standard bearing a white disc with a red crescent and five-pointed star—an emblem inspired by Ottoman heraldry that became Tunisia's enduring national flag, making it one of the oldest national flags still in continuous use worldwide.