Flag of Iran

Meaning and history of the flag of Iran

Iran's flag has three equal horizontal stripes: green on top, white in the middle, and red at the bottom. At the center of the white stripe is the national emblem, a stylized rendering of the word 'Allah' in Arabic calligraphy shaped like a tulip. Along the borders between the stripes, the phrase 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great) is repeated in white Kufic script eleven times on each border, 22 repetitions in all, commemorating the 22nd of Bahman (February 11) in the Islamic calendar, the date of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The current design was adopted on July 29, 1980, after the Islamic Revolution that overthrew Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The green-white-red tricolor had been in use since 1906, but the lion-and-sun emblem of the Qajar monarchy at its center was replaced with the current Islamic emblem. Green represents Islam, white stands for peace and honesty, and red symbolizes martyrdom and valor.

Iran's flag shares its tricolor layout with several flags in the region, notably Tajikistan's, which also uses green, white, and red. The central emblem was created by artist Hamid Nadimi and personally selected by Ayatollah Khomeini. It is one of the few flags in the world to incorporate religious text as a decorative element along its stripes, giving it a unique and instantly recognizable design.

You can view the flag of Iran in high resolution above and download it in several sizes for personal, educational or reference use. To explore more, visit the full Iran profile, its map, or the current local time in Tehran.