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Controversial new Iraqi flag unfurled
Iraq's Governing Council (IGC) has adopted a new national flag to replace the one flown by Saddam Hussein, with emblems to represent peace, Islam and Iraq's Kurdish population.
The new flag consists of a pale blue crescent on a white background and has a yellow strip between two lines of blue at the bottom. It will be raised over government buildings within days, spokesman Hamid al-Kafaai said on Monday.
"The white stands for peace and a new start for Iraq, whilst the crescent represents Islam," al-Kafaai said, adding the blue strips represented Iraq's main rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, and the yellow represented its Kurdish population.
The old flag - red, white and black with three green stars, representing pan-Arab nationalism - had flown for more than 40 years, preceding Saddam, who was ousted by US-led occupation forces just over a year ago.
During the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein added the Arabic words "God is great" to the flag.
Dissent
But not everyone is happy with the decision, with one Council member saying that Iraq's leaders should wait for an elected government before changing the flag, the BBC reports.
"In my opinion, it should be not be passed until we have a parliament," Mahmud Uthman is quoted as saying.
"I think there are issues more important to concentrate on now than the changing of the flag."
Iraq's al-Sabah newspaper, which published the design in its print edition, said that the designer's name was Rifat al-Chaderchi and that his design had been chosen out of more than 30 proposals.
The flag is to be officially unveiled later this week.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/94E338BA-2CAF-4267-A9FC-5C425A108CE1.htm
"The white stands for peace and a new start for Iraq, whilst the crescent represents Islam," al-Kafaai said, adding the blue strips represented Iraq's main rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, and the yellow represented its Kurdish population.
The old flag - red, white and black with three green stars, representing pan-Arab nationalism - had flown for more than 40 years, preceding Saddam, who was ousted by US-led occupation forces just over a year ago.
During the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, Saddam Hussein added the Arabic words "God is great" to the flag.
Dissent
But not everyone is happy with the decision, with one Council member saying that Iraq's leaders should wait for an elected government before changing the flag, the BBC reports.
"In my opinion, it should be not be passed until we have a parliament," Mahmud Uthman is quoted as saying.
"I think there are issues more important to concentrate on now than the changing of the flag."
Iraq's al-Sabah newspaper, which published the design in its print edition, said that the designer's name was Rifat al-Chaderchi and that his design had been chosen out of more than 30 proposals.
The flag is to be officially unveiled later this week.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/94E338BA-2CAF-4267-A9FC-5C425A108CE1.htm
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April 26, 7:45 am EST. My jaw dropped when I read a description of the new Iraqi flag. White with a blue crescent, two blue bars and one yellow bar. My first reaction, like that of every Iraqi, was that, with the exception of the yellow bar, these are the colors of the Israeli flag. Perfectly nice colors and from an aesthetic point of view nicer than the red white and blue, the French tricolor or the hideous Union Jack, but the symbolism is just too over the top.
A quote from the Post article linked above (which also has a graphic of the flag):
"When I saw it in the newspaper, I felt very sad," said Muthana Khalil, 50, a supermarket owner in Saadoun, a commercial area in central Baghdad. "The flags of other Arab countries are red and green and black. Why did they put in these colors that are the same as Israel? Why was the public opinion not consulted?"
It's understandable that Kurds, threatened by pan-Arabism, would want a break from the Arab color scheme. But surely there were other colors?
I also don't understand another part of the symbolism. The crescent is for Islam, the blue bars for the Tigris and the Euphrates, and the yellow bar for the Kurds. Either the Arabs have been left out or there's at least an implication that Kurds are not Muslims.
http://www.empirenotes.org/
A quote from the Post article linked above (which also has a graphic of the flag):
"When I saw it in the newspaper, I felt very sad," said Muthana Khalil, 50, a supermarket owner in Saadoun, a commercial area in central Baghdad. "The flags of other Arab countries are red and green and black. Why did they put in these colors that are the same as Israel? Why was the public opinion not consulted?"
It's understandable that Kurds, threatened by pan-Arabism, would want a break from the Arab color scheme. But surely there were other colors?
I also don't understand another part of the symbolism. The crescent is for Islam, the blue bars for the Tigris and the Euphrates, and the yellow bar for the Kurds. Either the Arabs have been left out or there's at least an implication that Kurds are not Muslims.
http://www.empirenotes.org/
Iraqis burn a homemade flag with the design of their country's new flag in the besieged city of Falluja, April 27, 2004. U.N. senior adviser Lakhdar Brahimi warned Iraq's U.S.-led administration that an armed confrontation with insurgents in Falluja would lead to major bloodshed and long-lasting consequences. Photo by Akram Saleh/Reuters
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040428/ids_photos_wl/r2100281149.jpg
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/040428/ids_photos_wl/r2100281149.jpg
Iraqi university students shout while waving the Saddam-era flag Iraqi flag, as they demonstrate against the announcement of Iraq's Governing Council adoption a new national flag in Mosul, Iraq, Wednesday, April 28, 2004. Iraqi leaders presented a new national flag Wednesday after protests that a version unveiled earlier this week resembled the flag of Israel. (AP Photo/Samir Mizban)
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040428/481/bag10804281832&e=4&ncid=708
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/040428/481/bag10804281832&e=4&ncid=708
That other design was just a distraction. This is the actual design, created by the American administrators in Iraq.
!["iraqSm.jpg"]()
For more information:
http://artcontext.org/crit/scrapbook/2004/...
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