Saudi Arabia Sets New Rules for Naming Public Facilities Across the Kingdom
- Publish date: Thursday، 08 January 2026 Reading time: 1 min read
From mosques to malls, government buildings now follow unified standards and strict approval rules.
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Saudi Arabia is standardizing how public facilities are named, introducing official rules and oversight to ensure consistency, respect for religion, and proper governance. The new regulations cover everything from schools and sports arenas to mosques and transportation hubs.
What’s Changing?
The “Rules and Standards for Naming Public Facilities,” approved by the Saudi Cabinet and published in the Umm Al Qura Gazette, will take effect 120 days after publication. They apply to all government-owned facilities nationwide, including education, culture, sports, health, and religious sites.
فيديو ذات صلة
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Government entities are now responsible for setting up internal procedures to ensure names comply with the new rules and existing laws. This includes creating executive bylaws, governance structures, and enforcement mechanisms.
Strict Name Restrictions
Certain names are off-limits unless the King gives prior approval. This includes Kings, Crown Princes, and leaders of friendly or allied nations. Names that go against Islamic Sharia are prohibited, and the use of God’s names is limited to seven approved options: Al Salam, Al Adl, Al Awwal, Al Nur, Al Haqq, Al Shahid, and Al Malik.
If a facility is to be named after a person, authorities must verify the individual’s integrity, criminal record, intellectual orientation, and social standing to ensure appropriateness.
Flexible Options and Oversight
The rules allow for numerical designations, either alone or combined with names, to give facilities more flexibility in identification. Each government entity must maintain a complete database of its public facility names, updating it regularly and submitting it annually to the General Authority for Survey and Geospatial Information.
Final approval of facility names rests with the head of the relevant entity, though this authority can be delegated. The framework also cancels previous regulations related to street and square naming that conflict with the new rules.