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national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours a ...
of the
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is border ...
( ps, د افغانستان بیرغ; prs, پرچم افغانستان), also used as the flag of the Taliban, consists of a white field with a black '' Shahada''. It was adopted on 15 August 2021 with the victory of the Taliban in the 2001–2021 war. Since the Anglo-Afghan War of 1919, also known as the War of Independence, Afghanistan has used about 19 national flags, more than any other country in this period. The national flag had black, red and green colors most of the time during the period. The tricolor flag of the internationally-recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which remains in use internationally and by
resistance movements A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...
against the Taliban inside Afghanistan, has vertical black, red and green stripes. It has the national emblem in white at the center. The emblem, which is surrounded by sheaves of wheat, includes a '' Shahada''; a '' Takbir''; rays of sun; a mosque with a ''
mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla w ...
'', '' minbar'' and two Afghan flags; the year 1298 (١۲۹٨) in the Solar Hijri calendar (i.e. Gregorian
1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Bratislava, Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY Iolaire, HMY ''Io ...
); and an inscription stating Afghanistan (). A similar flag with three vertical stripes of the same colors, which had an emblem surrounded by sheaves of wheat, was first flown by King
Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan (Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1919, ...
in July 1928. During the
Afghan Independence Day Afghan Independence Day is celebrated as a national holiday in Afghanistan on 19 August to commemorate the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 and relinquishment from British protectorate status. The treaty granted a complete neutral relation betwee ...
rallies in Jalalabad and other cities on 18 and 19 August 2021, the Taliban killed three people and injured over a dozen others for removing Taliban flags and displaying the tricolor Afghan flags. The Taliban has issued a decree requiring the use of the Islamic Emirate's flag in all official settings.


Current symbolism

The current flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is a plain white flag with the black words of the '' shahada'' in the centre. The white stands for “the (Islamic Movement of Taliban’s) purity of faith and government”; the flag incorporated the ''shahada'', the Islamic declaration of faith, after 1997. The current national flag differs from the banners of other jihadist groups, including those of
al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
and the
Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ' ...
, in having white as its chief colour and the ''shahada'' in black, an inversion of the design of the coloring of most jihadist groups' banners. This current Afghan flag likely was inspired by the historic Umayyad caliphate, which began the Moslem conquest of the Indian subcontinent, the ''Ghazwa-e-Hind'': Islam entered Afghanistan with the Umayyad invasion, begun in 663-665 A.D. as a prelude to the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana from 673 to 751 A.D.


Islamic Republic tricolor

The national flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan set out in the 2004 Constitution consists of a vertical tricolor with the classical
National Emblem A national emblem is an emblem or seal that is reserved for use by a nation state or multi-national state as a symbol of that nation. Many nations have a seal or emblem in addition to a national flag and a national coat of arms. Other national ...
in the center. The latest version was adopted on August 19, 2013, but many similar tricolor designs had been in use throughout most of the 20th century, starting in 1928. Due to the lack of diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government, this tricolor remains in use by most diplomatic missions of Afghanistan, despite the overthrow of the Islamic Republic in 2021. It is also used by the
Afghan diaspora Afghan diaspora refers to the Afghan people that reside and work outside of Afghanistan. They include citizens of Afghanistan who have immigrated to other countries. The majority of the diaspora has been formed by Afghan refugees since the sta ...
and republican insurgents, and is considered a symbol of resistance within the country.


History of Afghanistan's tricolor flags

The black color represents its troubled 19th century history as a protected state, the red color represents the blood of those who fought for independence (specifically, the
Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, also known as the Treaty of Rawalpindi, was a treaty which brought the Third Anglo-Afghan War to an end. It was signed on 8 August 1919 in Rawalpindi by the United Kingdom and the Emirate of Afghanistan. Britain r ...
), and the green represents hope and prosperity for the future. Some have alternatively interpreted the black to represent history, the red to represent progress, and the green to represent either agricultural prosperity or Islam. The tricolor was supposedly inspired by the Afghan King
Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan (Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1919, ...
when visiting Europe with his wife in 1928. The original horizontal tricolor design was based on that of the Weimar Republic-era flag of Germany. Almost every Afghan tricolor flag since 1928 has had the Emblem of Afghanistan in the center. Almost every emblem has had a mosque in it, which first appeared in 1901, and wheat, first appearing in 1928. The last tricolor flag took its current form in 2002 with modifications later on in 2004 and 2013, with some variants containing differing coloured emblems. Following the restoration of the
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is border ...
after the Fall of Kabul in 2021, protests took place in Jalalabad and other cities, where protesters were seen waving Afghan tricolor flags protesting its removal in defiance of Taliban rule, due to the reinstatement of the white Shahada flag and the abolishment of the former black, red, and green tricolor flag. The tricolor flag was used by the Afghan delegation at the
2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inter ...
between 25 August and 5 September 2021, as well as at the 2021 Cricket T20 World Cup between 26 October and 4 November 2021, both after the fall of Kabul. The color video approximations (valid for flags 1928–1978 and 1980–2021) are listed below:


Other flags


Gallery

File:Flags of Afghanistan.jpg, Flags of Afghanistan on
Koht-e Sangi Kote Sangi ( prs, کوته سنگی) is a neighborhood and major intersection in western Kabul, Afghanistan, part of District 5. It is one of the city's most populated urban areas, located south of the Silo Road and west of Deh Bori and Kabul Uni ...
during Independence Day File:Afghan flag at the Arg.jpg, The Afghan flag flying at the Presidential Palace compound (2019) File:Afghan children in Baghdis province, Afghanistan, pose for a photo April 4, 2013 130404-F-WU507-005.jpg, Afghan children with the national flag in Badghis Province File:Afghan children wave flags during a celebration of the Islamic religious holiday of Eid al-Fitr in the Garmsir district of Helmand province, Afghanistan, Aug 110831-M-ED643-010.jpg, Afghan children waving national flags in Helmand Province File:Bonn Ückesdorf Liebfrauenweg 1a (2).jpg, Afghan flag hanging over the Afghan Embassy in
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr ...
, Germany File:Afghanistan Flag During Hand Over of Lashkar Gah to Afghan Forces MOD 45153478.jpg, Afghan flags during the handover of
Lashkargah Lashkargāh ( ps, لښکرګاه; fa, لشکرگاه), historically called Bost or Boost (), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into ...
(2011) File:Afghan Border Police in Herat-2011.jpg,
Afghan Border Police The Afghan Border Force (ABF) was responsible for security of Afghanistan's border area with neighboring countries extending up to into the interior and formed part of the Afghan National Army. In December 2017, most of the Afghan Border Police ...
in Herat (2011) File:Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan in 2004.jpg, Afghan refugees returning from Pakistan with an Afghan tricolor flag on their truck (2004) File:Afghan, British and American Flags MOD 45151539.jpg, Afghan, British and US flags on poles during a ceremony in Helmand Province (2010) File:Drapeau afghan (5891346269).jpg, Flag similar to that of the 2002–2004 design being flown in Montréal, Canada. File:Demonstration gegen den Taliban-Krieg in Afghanistan (51380125314).jpg, Flags being flown during an anti- Taliban demonstration in Berlin, Germany (2021) File:Daily Life in Afghanistan's Capital 25.jpg, Vendor selling Islamic Emirate flags under Taliban rule (2021)


Historical flags


See also

* Afghan rebel flags * Emblem of Afghanistan *
Flags of Asia This is a gallery of international and national flags used in Asia. Supranational and international flags An incomplete list of flags representing intra-Asian international and supranational organisations, which omits intercontinental organisatio ...


Notes


References


External links

*
Afghantribes: Afghan National Flags Timeline


{{nationalflags National symbols of Afghanistan
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...