Al Alam Palace (Arabic for “Palace of the Flag”) is a ceremonial palace used by the Sultan of Oman to receive foreign dignitaries. In 1972, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, who ruled Oman from 1970 until 2020, ordered its construction by the Indian firm Shapoorji Pallonji to replace an older palace (known as Bayt al-'Alam) that initially stood on the same site. The palace is readily identified by the façade’s bold gold and blue columns.