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The flag controversy in Iraq
12.9.2006
By Eamad J. Mazouri
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Kurdistan-Iraq,
-- Unfortunately and to the astonishment of the KRG,
some Arab circles and Arabic media came to defend
Saddam's flag.
For over a week now, there has been a frenzied
controversy in Iraq and in the Arab world concerning
a decision by the President of Iraqi Kurdistan
Region Mr. Massoud Barzani not to allow Saddma's
flag to be flown in Kurdistan.
Arabic media selectively and subjectively has taken
the issue out of its context and tried
unsuccessfully to portray the issue as a step toward
separation and declaring an independent Kurdistan.
Before delving deeper into the subject, I like to
shed some light briefly on the history of flag in
general, what it stands for and when and how it
changes, using the available resources on the net.
"Brief History of Flag"
"Over 4000 years passed since people first started
using flags. Authentic flag design of ancient
peoples includes a metal flag from Iran, ca. 3000
BC. The first type of flag was called a vexilloid".
"Vexillology is the scientific study of flags. This
word comes from a Latin word which means "guide".
First flags or vexilloids were metal or wooden poles
with carvings on top. About 2,000 years ago, pieces
of fabric or material were added to some vexilloids
for decoration.
These looked more like the flags we know today."
"A flag is a piece of colored fabric or material
that is used as a symbol, or for sending a signal.
Some flags are used only for decoration. Usually,
flags are messages from a person or a group of
people."
"People use flags to give others information, such
as, who they are. "
"Long ago, knights carried flags into battle because
it was hard to know who the knights were when they
were dressed up and covered in armor ready for
battle! Flags were important because they helped
soldiers tell their friends from their enemies in
battle."
"Today, every country in the world has a flag. As
governments change, so do their flags. Every state
in the United States has a flag, too. Flags are used
to give information, signals or stand for special
symbols or things.
Many organizations or groups like the Girl Scouts or
the United Nations have flags. Clubs, sport teams
and organizations have their own flags too. The five
circles of the Olympic flag represent the coming
together of people from five continents in friendly
competition. Peace is the message of the olive
branches cradling the world in the flag of the
United Nations. Some people, like a king or queen,
have their very own personal flag. Sometimes it
flies over any building or place where they are
staying."
"Flags include symbols that are used to show ideas
which would otherwise take many words. Flags are
used for wars, as well as for the celebration of
special events. On sad occasions, flags are flown at
half-mast to honor the dead, and draped over the
coffins of national heroes."
"National flags are not merely symbols of a country.
Their colors and designs convey past history and
future goals. Flags have powerful connotations. For
all the controversy it is interesting to point out
that the United States did not even have a
standardized flag until 1912!?
History of Iraqi Flag
The flag of Iraq has had four different designs
since the establishment of Iraq in 1921.
1921
1. 1921-1959
The original flag of Iraq was adopted in 1921, when
the country was formed. It was a black-white-green
horizontal tricolor, with a red trapezoid (some
variants have a triangle) extending from the mast
side. Two seven-point white stars on the triangle
denoted the then 14 provinces of the kingdom. The
colors chosen for the new flag were those of the
Hashemite leaders of the Arab Revolt who provided
the country with its first king, and thus it is very
similar to the Flag of Jordan, another Hashemite
Kingdom."
2. 1959-1963
"Following Abdul Karim Qassim?s 1958 revolution that
deposed the monarchy, in 1959 Iraq adopted a
black-white-green vertical tricolor with, in the
middle of the white band, a red eight-pointed star
with a yellow circle in its center. The yellow color
was considered a Kurdish symbol."
3. 1963-1991
"After the Qassim government was overthrown, a new
flag was adopted in July 1963. The new flag had
three stripes, of red, white, and black, with three
green stars in the white stripe. The green stars
were originally placed there for the proposed union
with Egypt and Syria (United Arab Republic), which
both had flags with two stars in the middle at the
time. They would have changed to three if the Union
had not fallen apart."
4. 1991-2004
"On 14 January 1991, the flag was changed again. The
meaning of the three stars was changed from their
original geographic meaning to representations of
the three tenets of the Ba'ath party motto, Wihda,
Hurriyah, Ishtirrakiyah (Unity, Freedom, Socialism).
Saddam Hussein decided to place the words, Allahu
Akbar (God is Great) between the stars. It is said
(though unconfirmed) that the words on the flag are
in Saddam's own handwriting, and many interpreted
the change as an attempt to garner support from the
Islamic world in the period immediately preceding
the first Gulf War.
Although the flag has not "officially" been changed,
this design has been largely replaced by the version
with modified script. It is presumed that the
modified version of the 1991 design will become the
official flag of Iraq upon the creation of a new
Iraqi Constitution."
2004 Flag Controversy
"On 26 April 2004 the Iraq Interim Governing Council
announced a new flag for post-Saddam Iraq. The
occupied government stated that from around 30
competing entries, it had chosen a design by the
distinguished Iraqi artist-cum-architect Rifat al-Chaderchi
(aka Rifat Chadirji).
The flag was white, with parallel blue-yellow-blue
bands across the bottom quarter or third; the blue
bands represented the Tigris and the Euphrates
rivers, and the yellow represented Iraq's Kurdish
minority (the reason for this symbolism was unclear,
but the flag of Kurdistan does feature a yellow
sun). In the middle of the white field was a large
Islamic crescent which was, unusually, depicted in a
shade of blue."
Current Flag Controversy
The recent controversy started when Kurdistan
President Mr. Barzani declared officially not to
hoist Baathists" flag in Kurdistan. Instead of that
the flag of July 14th to be used until the
implementation of article 12 of the permanent Iraqi
Constitution of 2005. The reasoning behind that
decision was the fact that all of the crimes and
atrocities were committed under that same flag not
only against Kurdish people alone, but the rest of
Iraqi people as well, not to mention the war against
Iran, the invasion of Kuwait and bombarding
neighboring countries with his deadly rockets.
It was under this flag that Saddam's regime
destroyed more than 4500 Kurdish villages, used
chemical weapons on Halabja that killed more than
5000 people all civilians, waged the al-Anfal
campaign in Kurdistan where more than 180,000 people
killed. It was under this same flag that he waged a
genocidal war against Kurdish people and the mass
graves are the proof on these heinous atrocities.
All the accusations mentioned by the supporters of
Saddams flag are baseless, unsubstantiated and far
from the truth. However, as a result the row still
is in progress and various contradicting and
threatening statements have been issued from a
variety of offices and governments regarding this
matter that has become the topic of the hour in a
heated debate. This dispute has dragged in the
highest offices of the federal government in Baghdad
and was topped today by intervention of the American
ambassador to Iraq Mr. Khalil Zade in a statement
that reads: these kinds of actions should not be
taken unilaterally; instead the issue needs to be
resolved through the constitution and the Iraqi
national assembly.
Unfortunately and to the astonishment of the
Kurdistan Regional Government, some Arab circles and
Arabic media came to defend Saddam's flag. They
started an unfair and unjust campaign against KRG
and Kurdish people in an attempt to keep the
Baathist flag as the national one.
First of all, for those who are defending this flag,
it is not clear yet which flag they are defending.
Is it the one with Saddam?s own handwriting on it"
Or is it the same tri color 3 star but the
expression (God is greater) written with Kufic" or
perhaps a different version of that. These people
are requested to tell us which one they consider it
national. While they talk so much about the legality
and the constitutionality of the Kurdish action,
they need to be reminded that the change of 1991 and
all the ones that followed were neither official nor
legal. Neither the Iraqi government nor the Iraqi
parliament had a saying in that or approved it.
It is worth mentioning that the flag in dispute has
never been hoisted in Kurdistan since 1991, except a
modified version of it in Sulaimania region for a
short period of time.
This flag has brought nothing on the Iraqi people in
general other than destruction, war, mass-killing,
genocide, chemical weapons and mass graves. It is
hard to believe that there are some Iraqi people out
there who would defend such a flag that symbolizes
the deposed regime of dictator Saddam and the
tyranny of the Baath party that reduced Iraq to
rubbles and surviving Iraqi people to live below
minimum living standards of the poorest countries of
the world, despite the huge human and natural
resources of Iraq.
Undemocratic regimes changes, along with them all
the emblems and symbols that represent them. There
is no single justification for keeping this flag and
hailing it as the national Iraqi flag except for
those who are trying to cause obstacles in the way
of the progress the new democratic federal Iraq is
making towards peace, stability and prosperity. One
thing is for sure. These attempts are not serving
Iraqi people or their gains of rights and freedoms.
After all, let's keep in mind that flag as a form or
symbol while sacred and sacrosanct, it cannot be
more sanctified than the essence it represents or
embodies. These are the people themselves, their
history, rights, liberties, struggle and heritage.
It would be wrong to hail the form as holier than
essence as some are trying to do. This issue has
been dealt with in democratic societies clearly
through constitutional process. In non-democratic
societies, of course they are still killing the
citizen in the name of patriotism, but the new Iraq
is not going to capitulate to those who are still
defending Saddam's regime.
Where as the Iraqi permanent constitution of 2005 is
silent when it comes to which flag is considered the
national flag, it is clear and straight forward in
article 12 that the flag and national anthem along
with all the national emblems would be regulated by
a law where all Iraqi components are reflected. This
article should have been implemented long time ago.
The Kurds are still waiting for that day.
One of the bases of accusations against Kurds is
that this was a step towards separation and the
declaration of independence from Iraq. These people
realize they are not telling the truth, but they are
trying to deceive others. Kurds have participated
aggressively in the formation of the Iraqi
government; this includes the elections, the draft
of the constitution and the federal government in
Baghdad. In fact the Kurds have become the stalwart
proponent of a federal Iraq. If they feel today they
need to declare their independence, they would come
and declare it straight out. Kurds have accepted to
join Iraqi Arabs in a voluntary union where all are
equal, live in peace, harmony and prosperity
regardless of their race, religion or sect. To try
to coerce the them into an involuntary union as it
has been the case for the last 80 years or imposing
certain solutions on Kurds or others not going to
serve the purpose of building a new democratic
federal Iraq. This might be the recipe for the
disintegration of Iraq.
Mr. Barzani's repeated statements should be more
than enough to clear the Kurdish position in this
regard. It could be summed up as follows: Kurds are
not a minority, but rather a divided nation against
its will. Like any other nation and according to
every international chapter, covenant and treaty
they have the right to determine their own fate,
including the right to establish an independent
Kurdistan on their own land. However, KRG chose
federalism within the framework of a democratic
federal Iraq based on a voluntary union as the best
solution for the Kurdish problem at present. The
justification behind that is the fact that Kurds
under such circumstances would be able to have all
their rights short of statehood within Iraq while
enjoying the protection of a strong sovereign state.
What Kurds are trying to do is to exercise their
regional powers that were granted to them by the
constitution within that framework not outside it as
some are trying to portray them. The constitution is
very clear in distributing these powers.
Regrettably, some Arabs until this very minute do
not believe in federalism and would try anything to
undermine it, or perhaps they don?t fathom the core
of federalism, subsequently do not differentiate
between federalism and autonomy. Autonomy comes from
the top to down. The central government grants the
territories certain rights. On the contrary,
federalism comes from down - up. Regions enter into
a national contract where they give up certain
powers to create a federal government, without which
there will not be any federal government.
Perhaps, one of the best outcomes of this whole
controversy, it might lead to speed up the process
of implementing article 12 of the constitution where
a new flag and a national anthem would be chosen to
really reflect the history, geography, struggle,
sacrifices and sufferings of all the people of Iraq
without any discrimination as previous national
symbols were about.
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