Iraqi Parliament
Chooses Temporary Post-Saddam Flag
Jan 22, 2008
By Waleed Ibrahim
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's parliament voted on Tuesday to adopt a new, temporary
national flag in a move long demanded by the country's Kurdish minority who say
the Saddam Hussein-era banner is a reminder of the cruelty of his rule.
There was rare unity among members of parliament over the emotional issue, which
represents a symbolic break with the past. A previous attempt to change the
flag, by the interim government in 2004, was universally rejected by Iraqis.
The debate over a post-Saddam flag was accelerated by a planned pan-Arab meeting
of politicians in Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region on March 10.
Kurdish officials had refused to fly the current flag, which is banned in
Kurdistan.
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The new flag will have a limited shelf-life -- it will last for one year, during
which time debate will continue on what the final flag should look like.
There was no serious opposition among the Shi'ite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish blocs
in parliament to the proposed temporary flag -- 110 out of the 165 members
present supported the change -- because it is almost identical to the old one.
It is still red, white and black, but the three green stars in the centre
representing unity, freedom and socialism, the motto of Saddam's now outlawed
Baath party, have been removed.
The phrase Allahu Akbar (God is great), added in green Arabic script on Saddam's
orders during the 1991 Gulf War, however, remains. The script was originally in
Saddam's handwriting but the calligraphy was unofficially changed in 2004.
