Flag of Afghanistan


The national flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, was adopted on 15 August 2021, with the Taliban's victory in the 2001–2021 war. It features a white field with a black Shahada inscribed. Since the 20th century, Afghanistan has changed its national flag several times. During this period, the national flag had mostly black, red, and green colours.
In contrast, the tricolour flag of the internationally recognized Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, still in use internationally, consists of three vertical stripes in black, red and green, with the national emblem at the centre in white. This emblem is encircled by sheaves of wheat and encompasses several elements: a Shahada, a Takbir, rays of the sun, a mosque with a mihrab and minbar, two miniature Afghan flags, the year 1298 in the Solar Hijri calendar, and the name of the nation. A version of this tricolour flag, introduced by King Amanullah Khan in July 1928, similarly featured three vertical stripes and an emblem within wheat sheaves.

Symbolism of the flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan

The current flag of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is a plain white flag with the black words of the shahada in the centre. The white stands for "the purity of faith and government"; the flag incorporated the shahada, the Islamic declaration of faith, after 1997.
The current national flag differs from the banners of other jihadist groups, including those of al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, in having white as its chief colour and the shahada in black, an inversion of the design of the coloring of most jihadist groups' banners. This current Afghan flag likely was inspired by the historic Umayyad caliphate, which began the Muslim conquest of the Indian subcontinent, the Ghazwa-e-Hind: Islam entered Afghanistan with the Umayyad invasion, begun in 663–665 A.D. as a prelude to the Muslim conquest of Transoxiana from 673 to 751 A.D.

Islamic Republic tricolor

The national flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan set out in the 2004 Constitution consists of a vertical tricolor with the classical national emblem in the center. The latest version was adopted on August 19, 2013, but many similar tricolor designs had been in use throughout most of the 20th century, starting in 1928.
Due to the lack of diplomatic recognition of the Taliban government, this tricolor remains in use at the United Nations, by many diplomatic missions of Afghanistan, despite the overthrow of the Islamic Republic in 2021. It is still used to represent Afghanistan at the Olympic Games and other international sporting events. It is also used by the Afghan diaspora and republican insurgents, and is considered a symbol of resistance within the country.
During the Afghan Independence Day rallies in Jalalabad and other cities on 18 and 19 August 2021, the Taliban killed three people and injured over a dozen others for removing Taliban flags and displaying the tricolor Afghan flags. The Taliban has issued a decree requiring the use of the Islamic Emirate's flag in all official settings and outlawing the tricolor.

History of Afghanistan's tricolor flags

The black color represents its troubled 19th century history as a protected state, the red color represents the blood of those who fought for independence, and the green represents hope and prosperity for the future. Some have alternatively interpreted the black to represent history, the red to represent progress, and the green to represent either agricultural prosperity or Islam.
The tricolor was supposedly inspired by the Afghan King Amanullah Khan when visiting Europe with his wife in 1928. The original horizontal tricolor design was based on that of the Weimar Republic-era flag of Germany.
Almost every Afghan tricolor flag since 1928 has had the Emblem of Afghanistan in the center. Almost every emblem has had a mosque in it, which first appeared in 1901, and wheat, first appearing in 1928.
The last tricolor flag took its current form in 2002 with modifications later on in 2004 and 2013, with some variants containing differing coloured emblems.
Following the restoration of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan after the Fall of Kabul in 2021, protests took place in Jalalabad and other cities, where protesters were seen waving Afghan tricolor flags protesting its removal in defiance of Taliban rule, due to the reinstatement of the white Shahada flag and the abolishment of the former black, red and green tricolor flag.
The tricolor flag was used by the Afghan delegation at the 2020 Summer Paralympics between 25 August and 5 September 2021, as well as at the 2021 Cricket T20 World Cup between 26 October and 4 November 2021, both after the fall of Kabul.

Historical flags

Black Standard in Central Asia and the first flag

is one of the flags flown by the Islamic prophet Muhammad according to Muslim tradition. It was historically used by Abu Muslim in his uprising leading to the Abbasid Revolution in 747 and is therefore associated with the Abbasid Caliphate in particular. The revolution began with a rebellion in Khorasan. After this event, in the world of Islam, black banners were strongly associated with Khorasan and the East in general.
The next dynasty associated with the use of the Black Banner was the Hotak dynasty in the early 18th century, following Mirwais Hotak's Sunni rebellion against the Twelver Shi'i Safavid dynasty. The flags of the Hotak dynasty are remembered as solid black, but sometimes there were also white shahada inscriptions.
The use of black banners is also attributed to the Principality of Qandahar.
Solid black flag was last used during the reign of Abdur Rahman Khan in the Emirate of Afghanistan and in 1901, after his death, a white seal was added to it.

Herat flag (1818–1842)

The Hotak dynasty was overthrown by Persian King, Nader Shah. Following his assassination in 1747, Ahmad Shah Durrani rose to power in Kandahar. He rapidly expanded into neighboring countries such as the Mughal Empire, Afsharids, and others. Ahmad Shah became the first Amir of modern Afghanistan. After the Durranis were deposed from power and forced to exile in Herat after the assassination of Fateh Khan Barakzai, the flag was implemented during the reign of Kamran Shah Durrani in the Emirate of Herat.

Second flag (1901–1919)

State flag and royal banner introduced around 1901, when Habibullah Khan ascended the throne, and replaced in 1919. Its use was limited to the king, the army and some state services. Overlaid on a black field was a white emblem with a schematic drawing of a mosque, inside of which could be seen the mihrâb, a niche for prayer facing Mecca, and the minbar. The mosque rested on crossed arms and weather vanes and was crowned with a royal headdress, all encased in a garland of leaves. The mosque has been used as a national emblem before, but its inclusion on the flag in 1901 is considered the first adoption of an official emblem. Since then, most of the later flags include the emblem.

Third flag (1919–1921/29)

First flag flown under the rule of Emir Amanullah. He expanded his father's flag by removing the cannons and replacing the wreath with rays emanating from the seal in the form of an octagram. This new style of seal was common in the Ottoman Empire.

Fourth flag (1921–1926/29)

An oval replaced the circle inscribing the mosque in 1921. In 1926, Amanullah was proclaimed King and changed the national flag by modernizing the arms.

Fifth flag (1926–1928)

After being crowned the first king of Afghanistan, Amanullah Khan replaced the star with a wreath, which, depending on the version, consisted of olive and oak leaves. The swords and kolah were removed from the emblem, and the mosque was redrawn to be more complex. Despite these changes, during Amanullah Khan's trip to Europe in 1928, he was greeted with flags with the star. In addition to changing the national flag, the king also introduced a personal flag, which contained elements removed from the emblem on a red background on the obverse and royal tughra on the reverse.

Sixth flag (1928)

Next flag flown under King Amanullah, introduced around June 1928. The Black Banner was replaced by the tricolor for the first time. Consisting of black, red and green respectively, symbolizing the past, bloodshed for independence and hope for the future, it was probably influenced by the king's visit to Europe, and especially the Weimar Republic in 1927/8.

Seventh flag (1928–1929)

Fifth flag flown under the rule of Amanullah, introduced about a month after the last change. It was the first vertical-tricolored flag which would be used throughout most of the remainder of the 20th century. The emblem was completely changed in the style of socialist heraldry, removing religious, military and royal references. The new emblem shows the sun rising over two snow-capped mountains, representing a new beginning for the kingdom. This emblem also contained heaps of wheat, an icon that would be present on all future emblems of Afghanistan throughout different regimes. Notably, only the Soviet emblem had wheat at the time, and would in the future appear on many communist states' flags. The flag is known only through abbreviated descriptions; the chromatics of the central emblem are uncertain, as is the presence of the star. This short-lived innovative emblem did not appear on the currency. The symbol of the sun rising over the mountains appears later in the 1940s on the flag of Pashtunistan.

Eighth flag (1929)

In January 1929, in opposition to Amrullah's reformist rule, the Saqqawists approached Kabul. The king abdicated, leaving power to his brother. During the 3 days of his reign, Inayatullah Khan reportedly hoisted old flags with a solid black background.

Ninth flag (1929)

Flag used for several months in 1929 in areas not under Saqqawist control. During Amarullah's struggle to regain power the tricolor flag was restored however, in the center was the old radial emblem – with some modifications – in an elliptical version.