The father had raised the flag on a three metre pole above his home in Jeddah, after buying it online at the request of one of his children.
He claims he had no idea of the flag’s symbolism and had bought it because his children found it ‘pretty’.
Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia and those who engage in a same-sex relationship face harsh punishment such as chemical castration or execution.
As soon as the flag was spotted outside the man’s home, Saudi religious police arrested him, CNN reported.
According to local reports, the man was released on bail and agreed to remove the flag.
In January, four couples were arrested for being in a same-sex relationship by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
Last year, Saudi Arabia tried to get the UN to remove reference to gay rights from the organisation’s Global Goals.
It claimed that gay rights were ‘counter to Islamic law.’
Saudi man arrested for flying rainbow flag not knowing it symbolised LGBT pride
28 March 2016
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A man in Saudi Arabia has been arrested for flying a
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