Flag of Iraq

Iraq’s national flag has three equal horizontal bands: red at the top, white in the middle, and black at the bottom. A green Arabic inscription, Allahu akbar, sits in the white band. The current design has no stars. Its width-to-height ratio is 3:2, also written 2:3 when height comes first.

Iraq’s flag uses red, white, black, and green. The supplied digital drawing uses red #CD1125, white #FFFFFF, black #000000, and green #017B3D. Their RGB values are 205,17,37; 255,255,255; 0,0,0; and 1,123,61. These are file-specific screen values; the reviewed flag laws do not identify them as universal statutory HEX codes.

The 2008 amendment says that Iraq’s flag colors represent the colors of Islamic banners. It gives that collective explanation rather than assigning a separate modern meaning to each stripe. The green inscription is a religious declaration, Allahu akbar. The amendment also removed the three stars and their meanings from the earlier flag.

The green words say Allahu akbar, commonly translated as “God is great” or “God is greatest.” In ordinary Arabic writing, the phrase is الله أكبر. It is read from right to left. Iraq’s flag displays the phrase once in the white band, using the Kufic script specified in the 2008 law.

Law 9 of 2008 expressly specifies Kufic script for the phrase Allahu akbar. It removes the earlier legal reference to Saddam Hussein’s handwriting. A Kufic form had already been used in practice after 2004, but the 2008 amendment states the requirement in law. Script style and the continued presence of the religious words are separate details.

Iraq’s flag is three units wide for every two units high. The law describes the shorter dimension as two-thirds of the longer one. The red, white, and black bands have equal height, so each occupies one-third of the whole flag. A 150-centimeter-wide example would therefore be 100 centimeters high.

Start with a 3:2 rectangle and divide its height into three equal bands: red, white, and black. Place the complete green Kufic inscription in the central white field, with no stars. Preserve the calligraphy’s shape when scaling. The construction diagram explains the overall grid; legal placement wording and approved production artwork require separate attention.

The 3:2 proportion can be used at many sizes: 150×100 centimeters, 90×60 centimeters, and 30×20 centimeters are examples with width first. These are calculated illustrations, not an official size schedule. Whatever the scale, keep the bands equal and preserve the inscription. For an official commission, use the applicable approved pattern and institutional requirements.

Iraq’s flag history includes a royal horizontal tricolor, a distinctive republican vertical tricolor, and several red-white-black designs. The three green stars introduced in 1963 were later joined by a religious inscription, then removed in 2008. Changes in government, script, legislation, and actual use need separate dates rather than a single simplified sequence.

The royal flag type had horizontal black, white, and green bands, a red trapezoid at the hoist, and two white seven-pointed stars. The 1943 constitutional amendment described a rectangle twice as long as it was high. The illustration is a modern reconstruction of that historical type, not an archival photograph or the current national flag.

The 1959 republic flag used vertical black, white, and green bands within a 2:1 rectangle. A dark red eight-pointed star filled the center, enclosing a yellow disk with a white ring. Law 102 of 1959 prescribed the design and directed that its use begin on July 14, 1959, a year after the revolution it commemorated.

The three green stars first appeared in the 1963 red-white-black design. That law’s rationale referred to a planned federal union of Egypt, Syria, and Iraq. The 1986 law later associated the stars with unity, freedom, and socialism. The 2008 amendment removed both the stars and their meanings, so they do not belong on today’s flag.

The green phrase Allahu akbar was added under Law 6 of 1991. The amendment retained the three stars and placed the words between them, explicitly referring to Saddam Hussein’s handwriting. The phrase itself survived later revisions, but that handwriting reference and the stars were removed from the law in 2008, which specified Kufic script instead.

A Kufic form of the inscription came into use after 2004 while the three green stars remained. A separate white flag proposal with a pale blue crescent and blue-and-yellow bands was also announced that year but did not become the enduring national design. These were different developments and should not be merged into one supposedly adopted flag.

Parliament approved the current starless design on January 22, 2008. The Presidency Council issued Law 9 on January 29, and it appeared in the official gazette on February 5. The law removed the three stars, retained Allahu akbar, and specified Kufic script. Parliamentary approval, legal issuance, and publication are distinct dates.

The original 2008 law limited the arrangement to one year while a new flag law was expected. Law 32 of 2009 removed that deadline and continued it until a new flag law was issued. The amendment applied from January 29, 2009. Describing the current design as automatically expired after its first year misses that later legislation.

The legal framework combines the constitutional requirement for a flag law with Law 33 of 1986 and its amendments. Law 6 of 1991 added the inscription; Law 9 of 2008 removed the stars and specified Kufic script; Law 32 of 2009 extended the arrangement. Reading only an older unamended description can produce the wrong flag.

Iraq’s National Day is observed on October 3, associated with admission to the League of Nations on October 3, 1932. Official statements connect the occasion with sovereignty and national belonging. This is different from the 2008 flag change. The reviewed federal material did not establish a separate nationwide annual Flag Day for the current Iraqi flag.

No. Iraq’s national flag is red, white, and black with green Arabic words. The Kurdistan Region’s flag uses red, white, and green with a yellow sun of 21 rays. They identify different levels of political community. Kurdistan Flag Day on December 17 is a regional observance and should not be assigned to the federal Iraqi flag.

In the horizontal reference view, red is above white and black, and the green Arabic words remain upright and complete. Read the inscription from right to left. A photograph of thin cloth from its reverse may show mirrored lettering. For a vertical installation or a ceremonial arrangement, confirm the approved layout rather than assuming every rotation is equivalent.

The 1986 law gives the flag a place of honor and says that no other flag is raised above it in Iraq. It generally describes raising at sunrise and lowering at sunset, subject to exceptions set by regulation. It also leaves detailed building, ceremony, vehicle, and military arrangements to implementing rules rather than prescribing everything in the design clause.

Article 3 of the 1986 law says that Iraq’s flag is not to be lowered or dipped on any occasion. Actual reported practice has not been entirely uniform: parliament held a brief lowering ceremony in March 2015. That documented event does not erase the statutory wording or establish a general half-mast schedule for every Iraqi institution.

Article 11 of the 1986 law says not to display a flag whose colors are faded, whose fabric is torn, or whose condition is unsuitable. It calls for disposal outside public view in a way that preserves dignity. For routine care, follow the fabric maker’s cleaning directions, dry damp cloth, and protect it during storage.

The most common identification errors are adding the old three stars, omitting the green inscription, reversing the red and black bands, or stretching the 3:2 rectangle. Other mistakes include typing an unrelated Arabic font, mirroring the front-view wording, and treating a historical proposal as the current flag. Keep teaching labels and dimension lines outside the clean master.

Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, and Sudan all use horizontal red-white-black bands in the references shown. Iraq has green Arabic words; Egypt has a gold-colored eagle; Yemen has no central device; and Sudan has a green triangle at the hoist. The first three references are 3:2, while Sudan’s is 2:1, with width stated first.

The photographs show the current design as cloth in two dated settings: a security-forces graduation at Besmaya in 2017 and a diplomatic meeting in Washington in 2025. Folds, lighting, and the viewing side affect its appearance. The pictures document those occasions; the flat national reference is better for examining the full inscription and exact proportions.

The Iraq flag emoji is 🇮🇶. It combines the regional indicator symbols I and Q, with Unicode code points U+1F1EE and U+1F1F6. Depending on the platform, it may appear as a small flag or as letters. Its simplified presentation is useful in text but should not be treated as an accurate construction drawing.

The downloads include a clean 3:2 SVG, a 6000×4000 PNG, inscription and construction diagrams, historical reconstructions, comparison sheets, and two documentary photographs. Each gallery item has a local download and an explanatory caption. The national master has no stars, borders, or teaching labels; historical and annotated images are identified separately.