Saddam Hussein’s Baathist flag was finally lowered over the Iraqi prime minister’s office in Baghdad. This has been replaced on 5th February 2008 bearing a new design. The new flag design is regarded as a temporary entity, with the Parliament been given one year to formally approve the new flag. The Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his two vice presidents agreed on its design just last week. It is interesting to note that this new flag is Iraq’s seventh flag in eight decades.
The old flag that had been replaced was designed after a 1963 coup that ushered the Baath Party to power. The flag was seen as a reminder of the era in which as many as 10,000 Kurds were executed and minority Sunni Muslim Baathists were given the best jobs ahead of majority Shiites.
The new flag is quite similar to the old one. The red, white and black horizontal stripes remain unchanged. However, there are three green stars in the centre, with each one representing unity, freedom and socialism in the old flag which have been removed. The Baathists’ motto which was reflected in the old flag is removed. The phrase Allahu Akbar (God is greatest), added in green Arabic script on Saddam Hussein’s orders during the 1991 Gulf war, would remain but the font had changed from his handwriting since his downfall. Last month, the National Assembly agreed to adopt the new flag in a move to head off potential embarrassment at a summit of Arab legislators in the Kurdish regional capital, Irbil, later this month.
Via: USAtoday
