Years before independence talk someone had foresight to standardize the Kurdish flag
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Symbols of a nation communicate to the world its people’s values and history. The colors on the Kurdish flag embody the Kurds' past struggles and hopes for a brighter future especially as they get closer and closer to statehood. Day after day and people toiled to ensure this flag was to international standards.
“Poignantly, the flag design that I standardized comes originally from the Kurds of Turkey not those in Iraq or Iran,” Mehrdad M.R. Izady, a prominent Kurdish historian who has standardized the Kurdish flag, told Rudaw English.
Alaya Rengin, or “The Colorful Flag” with a sun shining into bands of red, white and green was first used by Kurds in Turkey in the 1920s, he explained, referencing the flag used by the Republic of Ararat, led by the Xoybuns in their rebellion.
“And yet, it is the Iraqi and Iranian Kurds today who regularly use it, not those from the homeland of this flag design: the modern day Kurdistan of Turkey,” Izady added.
The standardization of the flag in 1998-99 concluded a decade-long undertaking by Izady and others in the process of Kurdish self-awareness and national pride, as Kurds in Iraq formed their first government and gained greater autonomy from Baghdad through the no-fly zone.
“With the extensive technical services of Bijhen Eliasi and the encouragement of his colleague, Dilan Roshani, the project was undertaken and completed,” Izady said.
The Kurdish team got in contact with The Flag Institute, the world’s leading research and documentation centre for flags and flag information, based in the United Kingdom.
Izady still has the email communications with the institute from the 1990s, which he shared with Rudaw English.
Standardizing a flag requires geometrical proportions, sizes and colors to be set, as it is instructed on the flag's official document on Kurdistanica.com.
“Eliasi was closely involved with the technical aspects and to his credit, gave much thought and time to cater to every technical requirements of the Flag Institute, i.e., those that could be done and I could agree to,” Izady explained.
A large Kurdistan flag is unfurled in Zakho while the national anthem is played.
One of the major hurdles was the sun’s position and sizing.
“If it is possible within the confines of legislation (howsoever unrecognized the legislating body may or may not be), may we suggest that the following alterations with regard to size/position of the sun be considered,” the institute wrote.
To summarize, the institute believed the sun to be too large and with too many rays.
The institute offered that the rays not extend into the red and green bands of the flags; however, for the Kurdish historian, he knew the sun reaching into all sections of the flag was historically accurate and significant.
“Being as rational as intellectual, they never argued against any interjection that was well evidenced and supported,” Izady recalled.
Izady said because 21 is an odd number, he still often sees the starburst reproduced incorrectly — the uppermost ray should point perpendicular to the top of the flag
“[The institute] argued it would be easier to replicate and reproduce if the rays were reduced in number,” Izady explained. “That may be, but the number 21 is an extremely meaningful number to the native religions in Kurdistan — Yarsanism, Alevism, Yezidism and the like.
“The number 21 and its multiples represents a rebirth of an entity or reincarnation of an idea. Clearly, this is the flag of a reborn Kurdish nation after so many hurdles, so many losses and so much pain for its achievement.”
The red, white, green and sunburst yellow were recommended and accepted as the flag’s colors.
In Kurdistan, the three colors all can have different regional or political connotations, so the academic looked internationally to determine what the official shades could be.
“As much as possible and in view of the Kurdish sensibilities and sensitivities, I avoided the regulation colors found in the flags of the local states that presently govern various portions of Kurdistan,” Izady explained. “Instead, it was primarily the Hungarian and Italian flag's regulation colors that were selected.”
Still, what makes the Kurdish nation’s flag unique in the Middle East is the yellow sun, holding a special place in the hearts of all Kurds with its beams shining into the future.
“The gold color of the sunburst is unique among the Middle Eastern national flag, as none has such a color. So, locally, one color turns out to be uniquely Kurdish — the golden sunburst emblem,” Izady explained.
The red band symbolizes the blood of those sacrificed in the Kurdish struggle for freedom.
After the Kurdish uprising in 1991, the Kurdistan Regional Government was formed to administer its de facto autonomous region a year later and the modern “sunny flag” was largely used, although not formally standardized until the efforts of Izady, Roshani and Eliasi.
“If it is possible within the confines of legislation (howsoever unrecognized the legislating body may or may not be), may we suggest that the following alterations with regard to size/position of the sun be considered,” the institute wrote.
To summarize, the institute believed the sun to be too large and with too many rays.
The institute offered that the rays not extend into the red and green bands of the flags; however, for the Kurdish historian, he knew the sun reaching into all sections of the flag was historically accurate and significant.
“Being as rational as intellectual, they never argued against any interjection that was well evidenced and supported,” Izady recalled.
Izady said because 21 is an odd number, he still often sees the starburst reproduced incorrectly — the uppermost ray should point perpendicular to the top of the flag
“[The institute] argued it would be easier to replicate and reproduce if the rays were reduced in number,” Izady explained. “That may be, but the number 21 is an extremely meaningful number to the native religions in Kurdistan — Yarsanism, Alevism, Yezidism and the like.
“The number 21 and its multiples represents a rebirth of an entity or reincarnation of an idea. Clearly, this is the flag of a reborn Kurdish nation after so many hurdles, so many losses and so much pain for its achievement.”
The red, white, green and sunburst yellow were recommended and accepted as the flag’s colors.
In Kurdistan, the three colors all can have different regional or political connotations, so the academic looked internationally to determine what the official shades could be.
“As much as possible and in view of the Kurdish sensibilities and sensitivities, I avoided the regulation colors found in the flags of the local states that presently govern various portions of Kurdistan,” Izady explained. “Instead, it was primarily the Hungarian and Italian flag's regulation colors that were selected.”
Still, what makes the Kurdish nation’s flag unique in the Middle East is the yellow sun, holding a special place in the hearts of all Kurds with its beams shining into the future.
“The gold color of the sunburst is unique among the Middle Eastern national flag, as none has such a color. So, locally, one color turns out to be uniquely Kurdish — the golden sunburst emblem,” Izady explained.
The red band symbolizes the blood of those sacrificed in the Kurdish struggle for freedom.
After the Kurdish uprising in 1991, the Kurdistan Regional Government was formed to administer its de facto autonomous region a year later and the modern “sunny flag” was largely used, although not formally standardized until the efforts of Izady, Roshani and Eliasi.
The parliament of the the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) adopted this to be the official and stadard presentation of the flag in all aspects in 1999.
The white band represents peace and equality, befitting as the Kurdistan Region will hold a referendum on independence on September 25. Then the Kurds and their supporters around the world will hoist the flag Izady worked so hard to ensure was standardized and true to represent the centuries of Kurdish history.
The mountainous landscapes and serene waters connect the Kurdish nation, which is represented by the flag’s green band.
“It pleases me no end every time I see in the news in which Kurds are proudly and affectionately hoisting their own internationally standard national flag,” Izady confessed. “I am equally sorrowed when I see the Kurds from Turkey and Syria use a flag different in color and design, and of a recent origin. National flags are there to unify a nation not divide them.”
The white band represents peace and equality, befitting as the Kurdistan Region will hold a referendum on independence on September 25. Then the Kurds and their supporters around the world will hoist the flag Izady worked so hard to ensure was standardized and true to represent the centuries of Kurdish history.
The mountainous landscapes and serene waters connect the Kurdish nation, which is represented by the flag’s green band.
“It pleases me no end every time I see in the news in which Kurds are proudly and affectionately hoisting their own internationally standard national flag,” Izady confessed. “I am equally sorrowed when I see the Kurds from Turkey and Syria use a flag different in color and design, and of a recent origin. National flags are there to unify a nation not divide them.”
Flag of the Republic of Ararat (1927-1930). Image: Creative Commons
Flag of the Mahabad Republic (1946). Image: Creative Commons
Flag of the Kurdistan Region (current). Image: Creative Commons