[News] Iraq's (pentagon's) new flag

Tue Apr 27 11:30:45 EDT 2004

Apr. 26, 2004. 04:57 PM
a24d0a.jpg

Iraq drops God reference from flag

LEE KEATH
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD, Iraq Iraq's U.S.-picked leaders approved a new flag for the 
country, dumping Saddam Hussein's red-and-black standard. The new design is 
white with two blue stripes, and although it has a crescent representing 
Islam, the flag no longer bears the words "God is great."

The new design not only abandons the symbols of Saddam's regime. It also 
avoids the colours used in other Arab flags: green and black for Islam and 
red for Arab nationalism. The change recalls the U.S. agenda of creating a 
"New Iraq" that is exceptional in the Arab world.

The flag designed by an Iraqi artist and approved by the Governing Council 
has two parallel blue stripes along the bottom symbolizing Iraq's Tigris 
and Euphrates rivers. Between them is a yellow stripe representing the 
ethnic Kurd minority.

Above the stripes, in a white field, is a blue crescent of Islam.

The only country in the Middle East with blue stripes in its flag is 
Israel, which has a Star of David on a field of white between horizontal 
blue bands.

Council spokesperson Hameed al-Kafaei said the designer, artist Rifat 
al-Chaderchi, was asked to touch up the color of the crescent, perhaps to a 
darker blue or a different color. The final version will be announced later 
this week.

"This is a new era," al-Kafaei said. "We cannot continue with Saddam's flag."

But the overhaul of a national symbol raised some complaints particularly 
since it came from U.S.-appointed leaders. U.S. administrators previously 
tried to alter the Saddam-era flag by dropping the words "Allahu akbar" 
"God is great" but Iraqis refused to abide by the change.

One council member said the Iraqi leadership should wait for an elected 
government before altering the Saddam regime standard, which still 
decorates the uniforms of Iraqi security forces and flies above government 
buildings.

"In my opinion, it should be not be passed until we have a parliament," 
Mahmoud Othman said. "I think there are issues more important to 
concentrate on now than the changing of the flag."

The old Iraq flag had red and black bands across the top and bottom, and a 
white band in between with three green stars. During the 1980s Iran-Iraq 
war, Saddam added the words "Allahu akbar" to boost the religious 
credentials of his secular regime.

The new design appeared on the front pages of the Al-Sabah newspaper today.

"It is the real model as it represents all spectrum of the Iraqi society," 
said one Iraqi, Mohammed Faris.

Others were less sure.

"I don't like the new one," said Dhia Assi, a bakery owner. "The old one 
used to make me feel revolutionary. I feel this one belongs to another 
country."

Riad al-Saadi, 33, called the new flag "meaningless.''

"After we added 'Allahu akbar' to the old flag, we became more proud of it. 
The crescent of the new flag does not represent Islam," he said, adding: 
"The old one had nicer colours.''

In Arabic nations, the colours of flags have widely recognized meanings.

Green, white and black denote Islam harkening back to the battle banners of 
the medieval Islamic dynasties of the Fatimids, Ummayads and Abbasids. 
Green is said to have been the prophet Muhammad's favourite color; the 
Saudi, Libyan, Algerian and Mauritanean flags are completely or largely green.

Islamic crescents in Arab heraldry are usually green or red.

Red, meanwhile, points to Arab nationalism. It was the color of the Sharif 
Hussein, who led the Arab revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule in the early 
1900s, and he added it to a flag of green, white and black stripes to 
create a symbol of pan-Arabism.

Hussein's banner was the basis for the Jordanian, Palestinian and Syrian 
flags as well as the old Iraqi one.

The only Arab League members to have any blue in their flag are the African 
nations of Djibouti and Somalia.

<http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1082975526428&call_pageid=968256289824&col=968705899037>The 
Star Article

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