🇮🇶 The colours of Iraq
4 meanings recorded.
Iraq’s flag uses red, white, black, and green, known as the pan-Arab colours. These shades are drawn from a famous poem and represent bravery, bright deeds, fertile land, and the darkness of battlefields. The green script in the centre highlights Iraq’s Islamic identity.
Where no official value is given, the swatch shows the colour family, not the exact shade.
- The flag’s colours come from a medieval Arabic poem.
- Green Kufic script in the centre reads 'Allahu akbar'.
- The three stars were removed from the flag in 2008.
- Red, white, black, and green are the pan-Arab colours.
- The flag’s proportions are two-thirds width to length.
The colours of the flag of Iraq
The Iraqi flag is made up of three horizontal stripes: red at the top, white in the middle, and black at the bottom. In the centre of the white stripe, the phrase 'Allahu akbar' (meaning 'God is greatest') is written in green Kufic script. All four colours—red, white, black, and green—are known as the pan-Arab colours, which symbolise Arab unity and identity. The meanings of the colours come from a poem by Safi al-Din al-Hilli, where red stands for the blood of warriors, white for noble deeds, black for the hardships of battle, and green for the land.
How the colours were chosen of Iraq
Iraq’s modern flags have always featured the pan-Arab colours, but their arrangement and symbols have changed with political shifts. The first flag, adopted in 1921, was based on the Arab Revolt flag and included a red triangle or trapezoid and stars for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. After the 1958 revolution, a new flag included a yellow sun for the Kurds and a red star for the Assyrians. The current tricolour format, inspired by Egypt’s Arab Liberation Flag, has been in use since 1963, with the green script added in 1991 and the three stars removed in 2008. The flag’s symbols have reflected changing ideas about national identity, pan-Arabism, and religion.
Official shades and rules of Iraq
The flag must be a rectangle with a width two-thirds its length. It has three equal horizontal stripes: red, white, and black. The green Kufic script is placed in the centre of the white stripe. There are no official hex codes or detailed shade specifications in the sources.
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Flag of Iraq", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
What colours mean in Iraq
Customs vary by region, faith and family; these are the meanings most often recorded.
Green flags fly over the Shia shrines of Najaf and Karbala. Green is tied to the family of the Prophet, and pilgrims tie strips of green cloth to the grilles of tombs.
Sacred and holySource: Green in IslamThe Ishtar Gate of Babylon, built under Nebuchadnezzar II, was faced with deep blue glazed bricks set with bulls and dragons. The blue imitated lapis lazuli.
Sacred and holyProtection and healingAweSource: Ishtar GateIn the elections of 2005, voters dipped a finger in purple ink to prevent double voting. The stained finger, held up for cameras, became a sign of the vote.
Politics and protestPrideSource: Election inkFor Ashura and Arbaeen, millions of pilgrims walk to Karbala dressed in black, and black banners for Imam Husayn line the roads.
Mourning and deathSacred and holyGriefSource: Mourning of MuharramColour and feeling in Iraq
Shia Muslims wear black during Muharram, above all on Ashura, to mourn the death of Imam Husayn at Karbala.
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