The flag of Kurdistan ( ku, ئاڵای کوردستان ,Alaya Kurdistanê) is the flag of

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...

, Kurdish Institute of Paris. and created by the

Society for the Rise of Kurdistan Society for the Rise of Kurdistan ( ku, Cemîyeta Tealîya Kurdistanê) also known as the Society for the Advancement of Kurdistan (SAK), was secretly established in Constantinople on 6 November 1917 and officially announced organization formed ...

in 1920. It would later, in different variants, be adopted as the national flag of different Kurdish states including

Republic of Ararat The Republic of Ararat, or Kurdish Republic of Ararat,Abbas Vali, ''Essays on the origins of Kurdish nationalism'', Mazda Publishers, 2003, p. 199./ref> ( ku, کۆماری ئارارات, translit=Komara Agiriyê and ku, Komara Araratê) was ...

Republic of Mahabad The Republic of Mahabad or the Republic of Kurdistan ( ku, کۆماری کوردستان / Komara Kurdistanê; fa, جمهوری مهاباد) was a short-lived Kurdish self-governing unrecognized state in present-day Iran, from 22 January to ...

and most recently by

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok ...

in 1992. Moreover, the

Kingdom of Kurdistan The Kingdom of Kurdistan was a short-lived Kurdish state proclaimed in the city of Sulaymaniyah following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Officially, the territory involved was under the jurisdiction of the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. S ...

used the crescent flag (shown below) which was also considered a Kurdish flag.

History

Origins (1920s)

The flag was created in 1920 by the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan (CTK). Shortly after, it was used by the nationalist party

Xoybûn Xoybûn or Khoyboun ( ku, ,Xoybûn خۆیبوون) was a Kurdish nationalist political party, that is known for leading the Ararat rebellion, commanded by Ihsan Nuri. Many Armenians joined the movement as well, the party was active in all parts ...

who hoisted the flag over the city of

Ağrı Ağrı ( ku, Agirî; ) is the capital of Ağrı Province in eastern Turkey, near the border with Iran. Formerly known as Karaköse ( ku, Qerekose) from the early Turkish republican period until 1946, and before that as Karakilise ( ota, قره‌� ...

during the Ararat rebellion. In his memoir ''Doza Kurdistan'', Kurdish politician Kadri Cemilpaşa of the CTK declared that this flag was the national Kurdish flag whose colors and shape had now been defined. In 1925, during the trial of CTK politicians in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, they stated that the

Ottoman flag The Ottoman Empire used various of flags, especially as naval ensigns, during its history. The star and crescent came into use in the second half of the 18th century. A ' (decree) from 1793 required that the ships of the Ottoman Navy were to u ...

was dead and that the Kurdish flag would shine like a sun. Flag of Kingdom of Kurdistan (1922-1924)

During the same period, the

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

flag was hoisted in

Sulaymaniyah Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, G ...

Mahmud Barzanji Sheikh Mahmud Barzanji ( ku, شێخ مه‌حموود بەرزنجی) or Mahmud Hafid Zadeh (1878 – October 9, 1956) was a Kurdish leader of a series of Kurdish uprisings against the British Mandate of Iraq. He was sheikh of a Qadiriyah Sufi ...

of the

. According to historian

Rafiq Hilmi Rafiq or Rafique ( ar , رفیق ), meaning "intimate friend", "companion", and "comrade The term ''comrade'' (russian: товарищ, tovarisch) generally means 'mate', 'colleague', or 'ally', and derives from the Spanish and Portuguese, te ...

, the Kingdom of Kurdistan considered the crescent flag as the national flag of Kurds. He wrote: "''A big meeting was held at the house of Şêx Qadir, the Speaker of the National Assembly, and with official permission, the official Kurdish flag was raised. On the day of the meeting, about 10,000 people gathered in front of the Grand Mosque.''"

Republic of Mahabad (1940s)

Prior to the declaration of the

from

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

in 1946, Kurdish leaders in Iran from Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) with support from Kurds in Iraq, had prepared the flag to be used as the national flag of the Mahabad Republic. The prepared flag was altered and approved by the KDPI who went on to hoist it in the official office of the Iranian government in

Mahabad Mahabad ( fa, مهاباد, ku, مەهاباد, translit=Mehabad), also Romanized as Mihābād and Muhābād and formerly known as Savojbolagh, is a city and capital of Mahabad County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its ...

on 17 December 1945. When the republic was declared on 22 January 1946, the flag was hoisted at the main square while

Ey Reqîb "" ( ku, ئەی ڕەقیب, ) is the Kurdish national anthem and the official anthem of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The poem was written in 1938 by Dildar in Sorani. History It was written by the Kurdish poet and political acti ...

was being sung. In his speech, President

Qazi Muhammad Qazi Muhammad ( ku, قازی محەممەد / Qazî Mihemed, fa, قاضی محمد; 1 May 1893 – 31 March 1947) was an Kurdish leader who founded the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and headed the short-lived, Soviet-backed Republic of ...

declared the flag as "flag of Kurdistan" and it was hoisted in all towns which was under his control. Days before the collapse of the republic, President Muhammad handed over the flag on his desk to

Mustafa Barzani Mustafa Barzani ( ku, مەلا مسته‌فا بارزانی, Mistefa Barzanî; 14 March 1903 – 1 March 1979) also known as Mela Mustafa (Preacher Mustafa), was a Kurdish leader, general and one of the most prominent political figures in mod ...

, leader of Kurdistan Democratic Party, who had fled to Mahabad after the 1943 Barzani revolt.

Symbolism

The Kurdish flag is the most important symbol of cohesive Kurdish identity. Since it was first hoisted in 1946 to represent the concept of an independent

Kurdistan Kurdistan ( ku, کوردستان ,Kurdistan ; lit. "land of the Kurds") or Greater Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural territory in Western Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages ...

(called the

and founded in Iranian territory) it has become a symbol of the national identity of Kurds. The main characteristic of the flag is the blazing golden sun emblem (''Roj'' in Kurdish) at its center. The emblem's sun disk has 21 rays, equal in size and shape, with the single odd ray at top and the two even rays on the bottom. The symbolism of the colours is: In the fall of 2006, the Iraqi Kurdish leadership gave orders for Kurdish officials to stop flying the Iraqi flag under decree number 60 "to hoist the flag of Iraqi Kurdistan".

Masoud Barzani Masoud Barzani ( ku, ,مه‌سعوود بارزانی, translit=Mesûd Barzanî}; born 16 August 1946) is a Kurdish politician who has been leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since 1979, and was President of the Kurdistan Region o ...

issued orders that the Ba'athist flag should be lowered and all regions in Iraqi Kurdistan should "hoist only the Kurdistan flag" because the symbols of Ba'athism were associated with the

Anfal genocide The Anfal campaign; ku, شاڵاوی ئەنفال or the Kurdish genocide was a counterinsurgency operation which was carried out by Ba'athist Iraq from February to September 1988, at the end of the Iran–Iraq War. The campaign targeted ru ...

where 180,000 people lost their lives. When the Ba'athist symbols were removed from the Iraqi flag in 2008, the KRG hoisted the Iraqi flag to fly alongside the Kurdish flag, reported to still be the practice as of March 2013. Flying the Iraqi flag side by side with the Kurdish flag is symbolic of their acceptance of Iraqi federalism.

Modern adaptation to international flag standards

The flag appeared in Kurdish media throughout the 1990s with MED TV,

Kurdsat Kurdsat Broadcasting Corporation ( ku, کوردسات, translit=Kurdsat) is a satellite television station in Kurdistan Region, Iraq, broadcasting since 8 January 2000. It belonged to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and is based in Sulayma ...

Kurdistan TV Kurdistan TV ( ku, کوردستان تیڤی) is the first satellite television station in Iraqi Kurdistan that started broadcasting in 1999. It belongs to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and is based in Erbil, Kurdistan Region. The channe ...

and their affiliates broadcasting with the flag appearing frequently in their programming allowing it to become a symbol of Kurdish statehood.

Other flags used by Kurds

File:Flag of Rojava.svg, The Tricolor flag of TEV-DEM, adopted circa 2012 for the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

Similar flags

Due to

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

roots of the Kurds, the colours used in flags used by Kurds are the same that are used in other Iranian-origin areas like Iran and Tajikistan. File:State flag of Iran (1964–1980).svg, Flag of the modern era Persian Empire (

Iranian monarchy Iranian monarchism is the advocacy of restoring the monarchy in Iran, which was abolished after the 1979 Revolution. Historical background Iran first became a constitutional monarchy in 1906, but underwent a period of autocracy during the years ...

until 1979) File:Flag of Iran.svg, Flag of the

Islamic Republic of Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

(since 1980) File:Flag of Tajikistan.svg, Flag of the

Republic of Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centra ...

(since 1992)

Kurdistan Region's flag day

Since 1993, the Kurdish Flag Day is celebrated on December 17.

References

External links

* {{cite web, url=http://www.webchin.org/extend/kurdistan-flag/, title=High Resolution Kurdistan Flag For Print

History of the Kurdish people Politics of Kurdistan Politics of Kurdistan Region (Iraq) Kurdish nationalist symbols Kurd