The Kurdish flag (also flag of Kurdistan, Kurdish: Alay Kurdistan, Alay Rengín "The Colourful Flag", ) first appeared during the Kurdish struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire. It is said to have been created in the 1920s by the organisation of Xoybûn (Khoyboon) An earlier version of this flag was flown by the break-away Republic of Ararat in Turkey during the period 1927-1931. It was later the flag of the Soviet-backed Kurdish state known as the Republic of Mahabad in 1946. It is flown by the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraqi Kurdistan. The flag is banned in Syria and Iran, in Turkey the flying of this flag is a criminal offence ^*.

The flag is formed of three colors of (respectively from up to down) red, white and green and a golden sun with 21 rays in its center. Red stands for the blood shed defending Kurdistan, White stands for purity and peace and Green stands for the nature and mountains of Kurdistan. The sun has always been a symbol used by the Kurds and the 21 rays represents the native Yazdani religion, as 21 is a sacred number.

External links

• Flag of the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq, from FOTW
• The National Flag of Kurdistan Introduction, historical background, description of the national flag on The Kurdish Institut of Paris website.

National flags | Kurds

Flagge Kurdistans | Kurdistani lipp | Bandera de Kurdistán | پرچم کردستان عراق | דגל כורדיסטן | Alaya Kurdistanê | Vlag van Koerdistan | Kurdistans flagg | Det kurdiske flagget | Bandeira do Curdistão