The national flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran is a tricolour of equal horizontal bands of green, white, and red, featuring the Islamic emblem in red centred on the white band, and the Takbir written 11 times each in white Kufic script along the edges of the green and red bands.Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Chapter II, Article 18: "The official flag of Iran is composed of green, white and red colours with the special emblem of the Islamic Republic, together with the motto (Allahu Akbar)."
The first official flag of Iran was adopted on 14 August 1905. Following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Iranian flag was changed into its current form in July 1980.
Many Iranian opposition groups opposed to the Islamic government use either the Lion and Sun flag or the green-white-red tricolour without additional emblems. Neither variant is officially recognised by the government, with the Lion and Sun flag strictly banned from public use.
Flag description Symbolism The Islamic emblem consists of four crescents and a sword, surmounted by a shaddah, representing the Arabic word Allah (). The Arabic Takbir is repeated 11 times along the edges of the green and red bands respectively, for a total of 22 times, reminiscent of 22 Bahman. The flag's colours — green, white, and red — are the pan-Iranian colours, historically associated with the nation and its identity. The flags of Tajikistan, Kurdistan, and formerly Afghanistan share the same colours.
Construction Physical requirements for the Iranian flag, a simple construction sheet, and a compass-and-straightedge construction for the emblem and the Takbir are described in the national Iranian standard ISIRI 1.ISIRI 1 , 1st revision. Retrieved 19 June 2012ISIRI 1 / IRANIAN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC FLAG, 1371 , 3rd edition, March 1993. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
History Prehistory
The oldest flag found in Iran is the Bronze Age Shahdad Standard, found in Shahdad, Kerman province, dating back to , made of bronze. It features a seated man and a kneeling woman facing each other, with a star in between. This iconography can be found in other Bronze Age pieces of art in the area as well.
Achaemenid Empire The Old Persian word for "banner, standard" was drafša- (Avestan drafša-, Middle Persian drafš, cognate with Sanskrit drapsá-). Xenophon in Cyropaedia (7.1.4) describes the standard of Artaxerxes II at Cunaxa as "a golden eagle, with outspread wings, borne aloft on a long spear-shaft",George Henry Preblem, The Symbols, Standards, Flags, and Banners of Ancient and Modern Nations, The Flag Research Center (1980). the same banner recorded to be used by Cyrus the Great.
According to Herodotus (9.59), each Persian army division had its own standard, and "all officers had banners over their tents" (Xenophon, 8.5.13). One such banner, a square plaque in saltire, is depicted on a Greek vase, the so-called "Douris cup" held by the Louvre.E. Pottier, Douris, London, 1909, p. 105 fig. 20, Plate XXV.b A similar design is known from an Urartian bronze disk from Altıntepe.O. A. Taşyürek, "Darstellungen des urartischen Gottes Haldi", in: S. Şahin, E. Schwertheim, J. Wagner (eds.), Studien zur Religion und Kultur Kleinasiens. Festschrift für Friedrich Karl Dörner, Leiden, 1978, p. 942 fig. 7; pl. CCXVIII/4–5. Similar square plaques on poles are known from six of the audience scenes of the Throne Hall relief at Persepolis.E. F. Schmidt, Persepolis I, III, Chicago, 1953, 1970., p. 166, pls. 98, 99, 123. The Alexander Mosaic of Pompeii, a Roman-era copy of a Hellenistic painting dated , also shows the royal Persian standard.,T. Hölscher, Griechische Historienbilder des 5. und 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr., Würzburg, 1973, pp. 122–69, 270–88. depicted as a rectangular plaque, possibly originally in purple, with a dark red border with yellow dots. In the field, a golden bird is only partially preserved. The "royal falcon" of Persia (varəγna) represented farr 'glory', while the eagle was associated with the Achaemenid dynasty itself.Aelian, De Natura Animalium 12.21 has a legend of Achaemenes having been raised by an eagle. Ezra (18:13) has "Eagle of the East" in reference to Cyrus.
A square tile representing a miniature (12 cm2) banner was discovered at Persepolis in 1948.Īrān-Bāstān Museum, Tehran, no. 2436; Sāmī, Persepolis, tr. R. Sharp, Shiraz, 1970, fig. facing p. 100; H. Luschey, "Ein königliches Emblem", AMI 5, 1972, pp. 257–60. The tile is made of Egyptian blue frit and likely represents Ancient Egyptian Horus, but in the Persian context suggests local association with the Avestan varəγna or the royal eagle of the Achaemenids.A. Shapur Shahbazi, DERAFŠ , Encyclopedia Iranica (1994, 2011).
Sasanian Empire
Seljuk Empire Various emblems and banners have been recorded to be used by the Seljuks in different periods. Early Seljuks were using their traditional emblems, but they gradually adopted local Muslim emblems and banners. The official flag of the empire was most probably a black flag, similar to the flag of the Abbasid Caliphate. The flag was decorated with emblems, which were either superimposed over it or was placed above the flag. This black flag was traditionally presented to the Seljuk sovereigns by the Abbasid caliphs.
A yellow flag was also used to denote Seljuk sovereignty over a town.
Ghaznavid dynasty The Turkic Ghaznavid dynasty were invested in promoting Iranian culture. They are known to have displayed a number of heraldic emblems that harked back to pre-Islamic Iran, including the Sun and Lion motif, as well as the Griffin motif.K. Farrokh, The Lion and Sun Motif of Iran: A brief Analysis (2009), citing S. Nafisi, Derafsh-e Iran va Shir o Khoshid [The Banner of Iran and the Lion and the Sun]. Tehran: Chap e Rangin (1949), pp. 45, 48–58; G.H. Yusofi, Farrokh e Sistani. Mashad, (1962), p. 422. Their banners appear to have shown chequered motifs.based on the History of Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, see Rice, D. T., & Gray, B., The Illustrations of the "World History" of Rashīd al-Dīn, Edinburgh (1967), plates 38, 44, 57, 60.
Safavid Empire
By the time the Safavids created a unified state and promoted Shiʿism as the national creed, the lion and sun had become a familiar sign everywhere—on copper coins, on banners, and on artworks. although various ʿalams and banners were employed by the Safavids, the lion and sun symbol had become by the time of Shah Abbas the recognised emblem of Iran. The association may originally have been based on a learned interpretation of the Shahnameh's references to "the Sun of Iran" and "the Moon of the Turanians/Turks." As noted earlier, the Sasanians had called their king “the Sun of the East” and the Roman emperor "the Moon of the West." The evidence of the Shahnameh was certainly well known to the Safavid shahs. Since the crescent moon had been adopted as the dynastic and ultimately national emblem of the Ottoman sultans, who were the new sovereigns of “Rūm,” the Safavids of Persia, needing to have a dynastic and national emblem of their own, chose the lion and sun motif.
Afsharid era Nader Shah consciously avoided the using the colour green, as green was associated with Shia Islam and the Safavid dynasty.Shapur Shahbazi|1999|Encyclopædia Iranica
The two imperial standards were placed on the right of the square already mentioned: one of them was in stripes of red, blue, and white, and the other of red, blue, white, and yellow, without any other ornament: though the old standards required 12 men to move them, the shah lengthened their staffs, and made them yet heavier; he also put new colours of silk upon them, the one red and yellow striped, the other yellow edged with red: they were made of such an enormous size, to prevent their being carried off by the enemy, except by an entire defeat. The regimental colours were a narrow slip of silk, sloped to a point, some were red, some white, and some striped.Hanway, Jonas (1753). "XXXVII". An Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea: With a Journal of Travels through Russia into Persią. 248-249. London: Mr. Dodsley. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
Navy Admiral flag being a white ground with a red Persian Sword in the middle.Nādir Shāh's Campaigns in 'Omān, 1737–1744 By Laurence Lockhart, Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, Vol. 8, No. 1 (1935), pp. 157–171
Flags
Zand era The state flag of Zand Iran was a white triangular pennant with a green border and a gold lion and sun in the centre. Another version shown below included the same design but with green and red.
Flags
Early Qajar era
Few sources directly describe the national flag during Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar's reign. Gholam Hossein Afzal ol-Molk refers to the Beyraq Qapuq ('execution flag') of the Naserid period as originating from Agha Mohammad Khan's time. This pennon flag is red and displays the lion and sun motif with a sword, although it is unlikely that the emblem resembled that of Agha Mohammad Khan's time given the sword-less design on the coins of this era. Several modern sources attribute a square flag with a red background and a pale yellow circle in the center, featuring a lion and a sun motif with a sword, to the period of Agha Mohammad Khan. The only visible source for this design is an unidentified portrait of Agha Mohammad Khan, where such a banner is present next to him. This painting was featured on the cover of the 1992 book Les Rois oubliés: L'épopée de la dynasty Kadjare, by Ali Mirza Qajar (grandson of Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar). Moreover, the painting was also photographed at a Qajar family gathering at Chateau de Bonmont, Cheserex, Switzerland in 2003.
In contradistinction, various contemporary and modern sources provide more detailed descriptions of Iranian flags and the development of the lion and sun motif during Fath-Ali Shah Qajar's rule, particularly in military contexts. Colonel Gaspard Drouville, a French officer who served as a military instructor for the Iranian government after the signing of the Treaty of Finckenstein, authored a two-volume travelogue that offers additional information on Iranian flags and standards.
Drouville expounds that in 1813, Fath-Ali Shah Qajar and Abbas Mirza attended a royal inspection of the regular infantry in Azarbaijan to personally confer each standard to their respective corps. These flags included the lion and sun motif, a date or number pertaining to the unit, and the inscription: "Sultan ibn Sultan Fath-Ali Shah Qajar" (Sultan son of Sultan Fath-Ali Shah Qajar), in reference to Abbas Mirza's title. The flags and standards are further described as similar to those of the French, adorned with taffeta white streamers and golden fringes. Based on Drouville's illustration, the larger flags of the regular infantry were painted red, and the flagpole was crowned by the silver Hand of Ali. The smaller standards that were prescribed to the cavalry lancers were a deep blue and featured a crouching lion brandishing a curved sword before a setting sun. These standards were topped by golden spears that were "as sharp as those of the Houlans".
An illustration by the French battle painter Hippolyte Bellangé depicts Abbas Mirza reviewing Iranian regular troops. The infantry corps carries a standard with a spearhead finial bearing a couchant lion and sun with a sword, similar to the cavalry flag of the Nezam lancers depicted by Drouville. However, as the work dates to 1835, two years after Abbas Mirza's death, the flag's design may be an artistic oversight.