Iraq

The flag of Iraq has had four different designs since the establishment of Iraq in 1921. While the current situation is not entirely clear, the version in use at present is a minor variation of the design adopted under the Saddam Hussein government in 1991. A new flag was proposed in April 2004 but was never adopted. At the ceremony on 28 June 2004 when the new interim government of Iraq was sworn into office, the stage was backed with a row of flags similar to the 1991 pattern, but wider, with the stars and the Arabic script more loosely spread across the width of the flag. The Arabic text (reading “Allahu Akbar”) was also more stylized, in the Arabic Kufic script, unlike the previous text which had been loose handwriting, supposedly that of Saddam Hussein himself. The 1991 flag was raised at the Iraqi embassy in Washington, D.C. on the 30th of June in 2004.