The flag of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

( ar, علم العراق

Kurdish languages Kurdish (, ) is a language or a group of languages spoken by Kurds in the geo-cultural region of Kurdistan and the Kurdish diaspora. Kurdish constitutes a dialect continuum, belonging to Western Iranian languages in the Indo-European language ...

: الله اكبر) includes the three equal horizontal

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, and

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

stripes of the Arab Liberation flag, with the phrase "

God is the greatest The Takbir ( ar, تَكْبِير, , "magnification f God) is the name for the Arabic phrase ' (, ), meaning "God is the greatest". It is a common Arabic expression, used in various contexts by Muslims and Arabs around the world: in formal Sala ...

" in Arabic written in

Kufic script Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...

in the center''.'' This basic tricolor has been in use since its adoption on 31 July 1963, with several changes to the green symbols in the central white stripes; the most recent version adopted on 22 January 2008 bears the ''takbīr'' rendered in dark green and removes the three green stars present since 1963. The northern autonomous provinces of

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 ...

emerged as an autonomous entity inside Iraq with its own local government and parliament. The

Kurdistan Regional Government The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) ( ku, حکوومەتی هەرێمی کوردستان, ''Hikûmetî Herêmî Kurdistan'') is the official executive body of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. The cabinet is selected by the m ...

uses a separate flag known as the

flag of Kurdistan The flag of Kurdistan ( ku, ئاڵای کوردستان ,Alaya Kurdistanê) is the flag of Kurds, Kurdish Institute of Paris. and created by the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan in 1920. It would later, in different variants, be adopted as th ...

which was adopted in 1992.

Color scheme

Valid for Iraqi flags 1963–present

History

1921–1959

The first flag of modern

was in Mandatory Iraq, and was adopted in 1921. It was a

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

horizontal flag, with a red triangle extending from the mast side, inspired by the

flag of the Arab Revolt The flag of the Arab Revolt, also known as the flag of Hejaz, was a flag used by the Arab nationalists during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I, and as the first flag of the Kingdom of Hejaz. History It has been sug ...

. It was soon changed to a new version with a red trapezoid replacing the triangle and two seven-point white stars on denoting the

Tigris The Tigris () is the easternmost of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of the Armenian Highlands through the Syrian and Arabian Deserts, and empties into the ...

River, and the

Euphrates The Euphrates () is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia ( ''the land between the rivers''). Originating in Turkey, the Eup ...

River. Both designs also reflected the newly installed

Hashemite The Hashemites ( ar, الهاشميون, al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921� ...

Dynasty in Iraq (originally from Hejaz in the Arabian Peninsula), who had played a leading role in the

Arab Revolt The Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية, ) or the Great Arab Revolt ( ar, الثورة العربية الكبرى, ) was a military uprising of Arab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On ...

. As such, it was similar to the flags of Hashemite

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

, and the short-lived Kingdom of Hejaz. The new flag continued to be used in the Kingdom of Iraq.

1958

In 1958, in response to the merger of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and Syria in the

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

, the two Hashemite kingdoms of

and

established the Arab Federation, a confederation of the two states. The flag of the union was essentially that of

but without seven pointed star in the red chevron. This flag is identical to the flag of Palestine adopted in 1964, and almost identical to the flag of the Ba'ath Party. The union lasted less than six months, being terminated by the Iraqi Revolution of 1958 in July.

1959–1963

Following the Revolution of 14 July 1958, led by

Abd al-Karim Qasim Abd al-Karim Qasim Muhammad Bakr al-Fadhli al-Zubaidi ( ar, عبد الكريم قاسم ' ) (21 November 1914 – 9 February 1963) was an Iraqi Army brigadier and nationalist who came to power when the Iraqi monarchy was overthrown d ...

, which abolished the

Hashemite monarchy The Hashemites ( ar, الهاشميون, al-Hāshimīyūn), also House of Hashim, are the royal family of Jordan, which they have ruled since 1921, and were the royal family of the kingdoms of Hejaz (1916–1925), Syria (1920), and Iraq (1921� ...

and turned the country into a republic,

adopted a new flag (Law 102 of 1959) that consisted of a

vertical tricolour, with a red eight-pointed star with a yellow circle at its centre. The black, white, green, and red are the

Pan-Arab colors The Pan-Arab colors are black, white, green and red. Individually, each of the four Pan-Arab colors were intended to represent a certain aspect of the Arabs and their history. The black represents the Black Standard used by the Rashidun Calip ...

, representing pan-Arabism, with the yellow Kurdish Sun in the middle to represent the

Iraqi Kurds Iraqi Kurds ( ar, العراقيين الكرد, ku, کوردەکانی عێراق) are people born in or residing in Iraq who are of Kurdish origin. The Kurds are the largest ethnic minority in Iraq, comprising between 15% and 20% of the count ...

, surrounded by the red Star of Ishtar to represent ancient Mesopotamian history.

1963–1991

After Qassim was overthrown by the Ba'ath Party in 1963, the new Ba'athist government adopted a modified version of the Arab Liberation flag as the new flag of

on 31 July 1963 (Law 28 of 1963). This horizontal tricolour of red, white, and black bands (a subset of the Pan-Arab colors, first used in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952) formed the basis of the flag of the United Arab Republic (UAR). Though the

UAR The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

broke up in 1961, hopes for Arab unity persisted. As such, whereas the UAR flag had two green stars in the white band, signifying its two members (

and Syria), the new Iraqi flag had three stars, symbolising the aspiration that

would join with

and Syria in a new union. Sharing this goal, Syria adopted the new Iraqi flag as its own later that same year. This remained the

flag of Syria As a result of the Syrian Civil War since 2011, there are at least two flags used to represent Syria, used by different factions in the war. The incumbent government of the Syrian Arab Republic led by the Ba'ath Party uses the red-white-black tri ...

until 1971, when the green stars were replaced by the

Hawk of Quraish The Hawk of Quraish ( ar, صَقْرُ قُرَيْشٍ, ṣāqr Quraysh) is a symbol which is found on a number of emblems, coats of arms and flags of several states of the Arab League. The Arabs of the Arabian Peninsula, today especially those fro ...

as the

Coat of arms of Syria The current coat of arms of Syria or coat of arms of the Syrian Arab Republic () was adopted in 1980, following the 1977 dissolution of the Federation of Arab Republics, whose coat of arms had until then been used by its constituent states. This ...

. During the presidency of

Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein ( ; ar, صدام حسين, Ṣaddām Ḥusayn; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutio ...

, the Iraqi Flag Law No. 28 of 1963 was replaced by Flag Law No. 33 of 1986, which did not alter the flag but changed the meaning of the three stars from their original geographic meaning to representations of the three tenets of the Ba'ath Party motto: ' (unity, freedom and socialism).

1991–2004

On 13 January 1991, the flag was modified by Flag Law No. 6 of 1991. At the instigation of President

, the ' (the phrase ''Allahu akbar'', meaning "God is the greatest" in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

) was added in green between the stars. The form of the ' was said to be Saddam's own handwriting. Many interpreted the addition of the sacred Islamic text as an attempt to garner wartime support from previously outlawed religious Iraqi leaders, to stop the disrespect of the Iraqi flag in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait, and to bolster the Iraqi government's Islamist credentials in the period immediately preceding the Arabian Gulf War. As with other flags inscribed with Arabic script, the hoist is to the right of the obverse (front) of the flag.

2004–2008

Owing to differing views on a flag proposed by the United States-appointed administration, and the prevailing opposition to an outright abandonment of the current Iraqi flag, a compromise measure was adopted by the U.S.-appointed Iraqi interim administration in 2004. The basic form of the existing flag was retained; however, the ''takbīr'' was rendered in traditional stylized

Kufic Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It ...

script, as opposed to the handwriting of

. The modified flag was unveiled at the ceremony marking the technical "handover" of power from the

Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = ArabicKurdish English (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Jay ...

occupation forces to the U.S.-appointed administration on 28 July 2004. Despite this measure, the Kurdish population still opposed the flag, as it contained the three stars associated with the Ba'athist regime of Saddam Hussein, and thus, the atrocities that were commited upon the Kurds by the Ba'athists. This eventually led to the removal of the three stars in 2008, which also provoked some criticism among non-Kurdish Iraqis, who flew it in protest.

2008–present

On 22 January 2008, the Council of Representatives of Iraq approved its new design for the national flag, confirmed by Law 9 of 2008 as the compromising temporary replacement for the Ba'athist Saddam-era flag. In this current version, the three stars were removed. The removal of the three stars was demanded by the Kurdish population of Iraq, which associated the three stars with the Al-Anfal genocide. But their removal provoked criticism among non-Kurdish Iraqis, mainly Iraqi Arabs, who argued that the stars did not represent the Ba'athist regime, and the city of Fallujah refused to fly the temporary flag that year unless instructed otherwise. The

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

intended for the new design to last one year, after which a final decision on the flag would be made. However, the flag law was reviewed in parliament on 30 August 2009. In 2012, there was an effort to replace the flag with a new design.

Symbolism

The Iraqi flag consists of four colors: red, white, green and black, inspired by the poetic verse of Safi al-Din al-Hilli:(Our actions are bright, our battlefields are dark, our lands are green, and our swords are red with the blood of our enemies). Color icon red

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

Specifications

The flag is in the form of a rectangle, the width of which is two-thirds of its length, and it consists of three horizontal bands of equal dimensions, the top in red, the middle in white, and the bottom in black, and the green word ʾAllāhu ʾakbar "الله اكبر" in

is in the middle of the middle white rectangle. The ratio of knowledge is 2:3.

Flag proposals and flag contest

2004 flag proposal and controversy

Following the military intervention in Iraq by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 2003, the Iraqi government was overthrown, and the Ba'ath party was outlawed. Strong speculation followed that the U.S. government would press for a change in the Iraqi flag to remove its pan-Arab symbolism, and to make a definitive break with the period of Ba'athist rule. To a degree, this view was shared by some groups in Iraq. In addition to some displeasure among Iraqis who had suffered under Saddam Hussein to retaining national symbols used by his government, there was also strong aversion to the flag from Iraq's Kurdish minority, who resented its evocation of pan-Arabism. However, Iraqi opponents of changing the flag argued that since the flag had been used since 1963, long before Saddam Hussein's presidency, it was unfair to characterise it as a "Saddamist" flag. They also stressed that pan-Arabism has been a dominant popular principle among Iraqi's majority population for decades prior to Iraqi independence in 1932. On 14 August 2004 the U.S.-appointed

Iraqi Governing Council The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of Iraq from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the United States-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi pol ...

(IGC) announced a new flag during Saddam's Iraq. The IGC stated that, from around 30 competing entries, it had chosen a design by the distinguished Iraqi artist-architect

Rifat Chadirji Rifat Chadirji ( ar, رفعت الجادرجي ''Rifa'a al-Khādarjī'', also Romanized ''Rifa'at Al Chaderchi''; 6 December 1926 – 10 April 2020) was an Iraqi Turkmen architect. He was often referred to as the father of modern Iraqi architect ...

, who lived in London, and is a brother of a member of the IGC. Chadirji commented that the guidelines stipulated that Iraq should be portrayed as part of the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, with historical elements included. His design was inspired by the flags of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and Switzerland. The proposed flag had several meanings: The design marked a notable break with the three flags of modern Iraqi history (namely the Arab Revolt-inspired flag of the Kingdom, the flag introduced by Abd al-Karim Qasim, and the Arab Liberation inspired flag of 1963), all of which were based on the four

. Indeed, of these colours, only white was represented in the IGC design. Moreover, Islamic crescents are usually depicted in green or red in Arab heraldry. The proposed change provoked an intensely negative reaction across groups of Iraq's Arab majority, including those vehemently opposed to Saddam Hussein. Those opposed to the U.S. occupation, including Shi'a cleric

Muqtada al-Sadr Muqtada al-Sadr ( ar, مقتدى الصدر, Muqtadā aṣ-Ṣadr; born 4 August 1974) is an Iraqi politician and militia leader. He is the leader of the Sadrist Movement and the leader of the Peace Companies, a successor to the militia he had p ...

, decried the design as an attempt by the U.S. government to strip Iraq of its identity, and its historically prominent role in the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

. In particular, critics lamented the proposed abandonment of the Arab Liberation Flag, the omission of the traditional colors of pan-Arabism, and the removal of the ''takbīr''. Additionally, the new flag's predominantly blue-on-white appearance immediately antagonised many in Iraq because of its alleged resemblance to the flag of the State of Israel, considered hostile to Iraq since the former's establishment in 1948. The new flag was reported to have been burned by insurgents in Fallujah on 27 April 2004, the day before its planned official adoption. On 28 April 2004, IGC President

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 ...

formally presented a modified version of the flag in which the originally very light shade of blue as reported by the press on 26 April 2004 had been changed to a darker tone. It was unclear whether this was a change made because of the protests made against the original design or, as the Council claimed, a rectification of printing errors in the earlier news reports. Barzani also explained that the flag was a temporary design, to be used over the ensuing months until the adoption of a definitive flag. In the face of the overwhelming public outcry, adoption of the blue crescent flag was abandoned entirely.

2008 flag proposal

Proposed flag of Iraq (first proposal, 2008)

Despite the compromise in 2004, opposition to the flag persisted from Kurdish groups. In January 2008, a new design was proposed, removing the three green stars, instead placing a green eight pointed star around a yellow circle in the middle of the ''takbīr'', which is written in the Kufic script and prized as a Mesopotamian Arabic style, having originated in Iraq.

2008 flag contest

Proposed flag of Iraq (second proposal, 2008)

In July 2008, the Iraqi parliament launched a contest to design a new Iraqi flag. The contest ran until September 2008, with 50 designs submitted. Six designs were chosen and sent to the parliament which was to choose a new flag before the end of 2008. Another proposed design was also similar to the 2004–2008 flag, but the script was changed to yellow to represent the Kurdish people in northern Iraq. The meaning of the three stars would be changed to symbolize peace, tolerance and justice.

Subnational flags

Autonomous regions

Governorates

References

External links

Iraq parliament approves new flagIraq unveils new national flag
(BBC)

(al-Jazeera)
Iraqis unimpressed by flag design
(BBC; refers to the sibling relationship between the al-Chaderchis, accusations of nepotism)

''(The Independent,'' reaction of Iraqis, sibling relationship)

''(Arabic-Radio-TV,'' The Flags of Modern Iraq (1921–present) *

* ttp://www.gjpi.org/ Global Justice Project: Iraq {{DEFAULTSORT:Flag Of Iraq National symbols of Iraq

Iraq flag controversy of 2004 Flags including Arabic script Irak Irak Irak Irak