Last modified: 2025-08-02 by ian macdonald
Keywords: coat of arms | allahu akbar | tulip | koran | triband: horizontal (green white red) |
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![[Iran]](../images/i/ir.gif)
4:7
image
by Zoltan Horvath, 15 June 2024
See also:
Horizontally divided green-white-red with a red emblem in the center and stylized writings on the horizontal edges of the white stripe. The hoist of the Iranian flag should be at the viewer's right, as it is the case for Saudi Arabia and Iraq, two other flags featuring writing which reads from right to left.
Approximate specifications (as given in Album des Pavillons 2000:
I visited the Islamic Republic of Iran embassy in Mexico City and I asked about the Iranian flag and emblem.
I got the ratio as 3:5 and the approximate colors (PMS) as Pantone hexacrome green C,
white, and Pantone Warm Red C.
Manuel Gabino Villascán, 3 February 2003
Is this ratio based on numbers you read in a text of law or did you measure it yourself on a "piece of cloth?"
Armand Noel du Payrat, 4 February 2003
The ratio is based on measurements taken from a desk flag, a "hall"
flag, and from the brochures provided by the embassy.
Manuel Gabino Villascán, 4 February 2003
The Iranian flag displayed vertically is seen here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Iranian_national_flag_(tehran).jpg.
Esteban Rivera, 9 October 2010
The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags
and Anthems Manual London 2012) provides recommendations for national flag
designs. Each NOC was sent an image of the flag, including the PMS shades, for
their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm
version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may not be the
official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the NOC
believed the flag to be. For Iran: PMS 186 red, 355 green. The vertical flag is
simply the horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner,
10 October 2012
An article regarding the development of the national flag of Iran can be seen
at
https://ajammc.com/2019/02/11/iran-flag-unique-symbol-revolution/,
from: online "Ajam Media Collective"
and another article regarding the
history of the flags of Iran at
http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/flags-i from: Encyclopaedia Iranica
William Garrison, 19 September 2019
The flag of Islamic Republic of Iran Specifications (in Persian with
illustrations):
http://www.isiri.org/portal/files/std/1.pdf
http://www.isiri.org/portal/files/std/1.htm
Other sources for colors:
The Flag Manual - Beijing
2008 gives Pantone color: PMS 355 (green), and PMS 032 (red).
The
Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] (Corr. No. 5.) gives approximate color in
Pantone and CMYK systems:
Green: Pantone 355c, CMYK 100-0-95-5
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 0-90-80-5
Two more colors added in the Album des
Pavillons 2016 (for jack):
Blue: Pantone Blue C, CMYK 100-73-0-2
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-16-100-0
The Album des Pavillons 2023 already specifies the color of the
flags in three color systems.
Blue: Pantone 2965c, CMYK 100-91-43-51, RGB
0-20-67
Red: Pantone 2347c, CMYK 0-100-100-0, RGB 225-0-15
Yellow:
Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-21-93-0, RGB 255-204-0
Green: Pantone 7731c, CMYK
80-7-96-0, RGB 0-149-48
Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone system:
PMS 186C (red), PMS 355C (green), and PMS White.
Wikipedia refers to Flag Standard and gives
color values as follows:
Green: RGB 35-159-64, Hex #239f40, CMYK
78-0-60-38
White: RGB 255-255-255, Hex #FFFFFF, CMYK 0-0-0-0
Red:
RGB 218-0-0, Hex #da0000, CMYK 0-100-100-15
Flag Color Codes gives the following color values:
Green: Hex. # 239F40, RGB 35-159-64, CMYK 100-0-67-23, Pantone 335, RAL 6032
White: Hex. # FFFFFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone N/A, RAL N/A
Red: Hex. # DA0000, RGB 218, 0, 0, CMYK 0, 100, 80, 5, Pantone 186, RAL 3020
Zoltan Horvath, 15 June 2024
The colours of the Iranian flag are traditional, probably dating from at
least the 18th century, and they can be interpreted as representing the Islamic
religion (green), peace (white), and courage (red). They were first designed in
tricolor form in
1907. The flag's centerpiece formerly comprised a lion with a sword
standing before a rising sun, with a crown above, but all traditional flags and
banners were abolished after the abdication of the shah in 1979.
Source: Shaw, 1994
Carlos de Noronha, 28 March 1998
Another interpretation of the significance of the colours is red, the colour
of the blood lost by the people who died for their country; white for peace and
friendship with any other country; green for the greenness of the country and
lots of fruits and vegetables growing in this county.
Minu Bahrami, 7
July 2010
The symbol consists of four crescents and a sword. The four crescents are
meant to stand for the word Allah (there is indeed some resemblance to the
Arabic writing of it). The five parts of the emblem symbolize the five
pillars of Islam. Above the sword (central part) is a tashdid (looks a bit
like a W). In Arabic writing this is used to double a letter, here it doubles
the strength of the sword.
Harald Mueller, 14 May 1996
Looking at the explanation of reading of the symbol, it seems
that the entire symbol together reads simply Allah.
Željko Heimer, 8 February 2003
The shape of the emblem is chosen to recall a tulip, in memory of the
(young) people who died for Iran. It is an ancient belief in Iran, dating back
to mythology, that if a young soldier dies patriotically, a red tulip will grow
on his grave. In recent years it is considered as the symbol of martyrdom.
M. N., 7 June 1999
There are Arabic writings in the border line of the stripes. These are 22 copies of the main Islamic phrase Allahu Akbar meaning "God is greater (than everything)". They are written in a beautiful ancient manner dating back to the first centuries of Islam. You can find the same way of writing (which is called Kufic from the city of Kufa, now in Iraq) on old mosques throughout Iran.
According to the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the number 22 was
chosen because the Islamic Revolution (known as the 1979 revolution in western
chronology) overthrew the previous regime on the 22nd of the 11th month of the
Iranian Calendar. The Iranian Calendar is based on Zodiac signs. The year begins
on March 21st and the 11th month coincides exactly with Aquarius. So we have
11 green repetitions on the top and 11 red repetitions on the bottom of the white
strip.
M.N., 7 June 1999
It depends on what is meant by "Arabic writing." If it means "Arabic
script," then the current quote is correct, as the usual name for that
particular script used for the usual Arabic, Persian (and many other)
orthographies is indeed "Arabic script." (Just like the Latin script,
used to write Latin and many other languages too.) On the other hand,
the specific character repertoire and other orthographic features
are not 100% the same for Arabic and Persian, and therefore we can tell
apart subsets of the Arabic script and call them the "Arabic alphabet" and the
"Persian alphabet". Note that this distinction between "alphabet" and
"script" is not clear cut and indeed these words are interchangeable or
synonyms in some contexts. Finally, while certainly Persian (Farsi) is the national language of
Iran and and native to most of its population (minorities include Arabic
speakers in Khuzestan), I'd bet, without looking it up, that the 22
times repeated writing on the national flag of Iran is indeed in Arabic
language, being a religious utterance.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 27 September 2003
The Kufic script used on the Iranian flag is one of two main branches of Arab
scripts. It is mainly used for monumental inscriptions on buildings,
tombstones, etc. Some experts distinguish the Kufic script as an independent script.
Both are developed from the Nabatean script in the 4th-7th centuries. As to the Iranian
Iranian flag, the phrase is in Arabic, and we cannot
tell if it is the Persian script or a Persian variation of Kufic script, or just Kufic.
Gvido Petersons, 29 September 2003
António is correct that the inscriptions are Arabic, as I just confirmed with an Iranian-born
colleague of mine. Farsi pronunciation of the words would vary
slightly from standard Arabic, but he said there is no doubt that the inscriptions on
the flag are in Arabic.
Joseph McMillan, 29 September 2003
In the article regarding the development of the national flag of Iran can be seen
at
https://ajammc.com/2019/02/11/iran-flag-unique-symbol-revolution/,
from: online "Ajam Media Collective", it is mentioned that the
original Kufic script of Allahu Akbar had to be modified as it resembled
initally the letters USA.
William Garrison, 19 September 2019
Apparently, towards the end of the development of the current Iranian flag,
designer Hamid Nadimi used a different Takbir design that I’ve attached,
which was denied for resembling the latin word “USA” too much. He later
redesigned it into what would be the current flag. [The original design can be
seen here.]
Source: Mr. Nadimi’s interview
with Rang Magazine: https://bit.ly/3DvgLvW
I’ve translated the specific paragraph where this change is mentioned
through google translate, as well as adding notes and fixed translations in
brackets ( [] ):
"...He paused a bit and continued: "Everything in this
revolution was arranged by God. You see, we included eleven Allahu Akbar, which
totaled twenty-two Allahu Akbar, that is, the date of the victory of the Islamic
Revolution, 11/22/57 [Persian calendar, 1357-11-22], that too with the slogan of
Allahu Akbar." He pulled out a piece of paper and drew a different Allah Akbar
with a pencil, "The Allah Akbar of the first flag was different, the same form
seen in minarets and mosques. For example, this role is also present in the
Goharshad Mosque. Then he laughed and said: "Some of the followers did not like
the logo of Hosseiniyyah Irshad and took the name of some caliphs from it." I
don't know which [bastard] said that the word (USA) can be seen in our Allah
Akbar. Then we decided to design another shape, but I liked the first one
more.”…"
George Moody, 2 November 2022
A government directive, issued on July 18, 2007, banned executive organs from
flying Iran's national flag half-mast as a gesture of respect and sympathy on
mourning occasions. Vice-President Parviz Davoodi said in his directive that
flying the flag for two-third of the way up the flagpole would be disrespect for
the holy word, 'Allah' (God), which appears in central part of the three-colored
national flag. The notice, a copy of which was made available to IRNA on
Saturday, suggested the organs raise more than one flag -- the second one being
black at half-mast point- for the purpose on the occasions.
Source:
http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-235/0707219710174707.htm
Pascal Vagnat, 23 July 2007
![[Iranian jack]](../images/i/ir~jack.gif)
image by Zoltan Horvath, 15 June 2024
The current jack of the Iranian Navy.
Source: Jane's Fighting Ships 2002-03
A photo of this flag can be seen at
https://www.jpost.com.
William Garrison, 12 August 2021
![[Coat of arms of Iran]](../images/i/ir).gif)
by Željko
Heimer
The National Emblem is made of the emblem which appears on the flag, but in green instead of red.
![[Iran]](../images/i/ir_vert.gif)
image
by Zoltan Horvath, 15 June 2024
based on:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Iran_(vertical).svg
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Iran_(vertical).svg
Zoltan Horvath, 15 June 2024
This flag may exist, however, I believe its design is misunderstood and thereby misdrawn. Horvath shows the three stripes as all being equally horizontal, and comes from a Wikimedia Commons image at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Iran_(vertical).svg#. However, if a person takes a little closer look at the stripes of the flag in an outdoor-setting photo, they are actually at about a 20-degree diagonal/slope angle, as shown in the accompanying Iranian flag ad below.
![[Iran]](../images/i/ir_vert20.jpg)
image located by William Garrison, 17 June 2025
This long, thin vertical flag looks like the national flag of Iran, but just narrower. However, not so. The difference is that there is a diagonal/slope of about 20-degrees in the middle white stripe of this flag, unlike the horizontal stripes in the national flag of Iran. No matter how long or vertical this flag may be, its width is always only 90cm wide; thereby, the proportions of red and green stripes to the middle white stripe will always change as the flag becomes vertically longer/taller. A 290cm (about 3m.) long flag is 90cm wide (or about 9'Lx3'W). Along the right-hoist side, there are 4 eye-grommets for attaching it to a flagpole lanyard. I have yet to learn the purpose as to why this "used car lot"-like, 20-degree-slope variety exists, maybe nothing more than to differentiate it from the national flag (maybe to save on the cloth expense of a large, wide flag).
Here an example of this "20-degree diagonal/slope vertical flag" being flown
outdoors at source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Iran
William Garrison,
17 June 2025
.jpg){kind=link}
.svg#/media/File:Flag_of_Iran_in_the_Nishapur_Railway_Station_square_10.JPG){kind=link}
.svg#/media/File:Flag_of_Iran_in_the_Nishapur_Railway_Station_square_37.JPG){kind=link}
.svg#){kind=link}