page_title: Flag of Iraq
section_title: 1959–1963
hierarchical_section_title: Flag of Iraq / History of the Iraqi flag / 1959–1963
context_page_description: The flag of Iraq includes the three equal horizontal red, white, and black stripes of the Arab Liberation flag.
  This basic tricolor has been in use since its adoption on 31 July 1963, with several changes to the green symbols in the central white stripes; the most recent version adopted on 29 January 2008 bears the takbīr rendered in dark green. The colours of Iraq's flag represent 4 different things: Black represents oppression and triumph, White represents bright future and generosity, Red stands for the blood of martyrs, and Green stands for Islam.
context_section_description: Following the Revolution of 14 July 1958, led by Abdul Karim Qassim, which abolished the Hashemite monarchy in Iraq and turned the country into a republic, Iraq adopted a new flag (Law 102 of 1959) that consisted of a black-white-green vertical tricolour, with a red eight-pointed star with a yellow circle at its centre. The black, white, green, and red are the pan-Arab colours, representing pan-Arabism, while the yellow sun represented the Kurdish minority. In addition, the red star of Ishtar was used to represent Iraq's ancient heritage, as well as its minority  Assyrian population.
  This version of the Iraqi national flag is currently allowed to be flown in the Kurdish minority region of Iraq, while versions of the Iraqi flag used between 1963 and 2008 are not, due to their connotations of pan-Arabism, and their adoption during the period of Ba'ath Party rule.
caption: January 1, 1959 – October 31, 1963 (ratio: 1:2)