From 1991 to 2003, the Iraqi flag looked very similar to the post invasion design, except that the Takbir was allegedly printed in Saddam Hussein's handwriting:

From 1963 to 1991, the Iraqi flag featured the same three colored stripes with three stars and no coranic script. The second longest lasting Iraqi flag looked like this:

Although the new emblem is still controversial, the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan raised the new flag today. "God is Great" (sans stars) is now hovering over the Kurdish Parliament, despite the fact that many Kurds wanted a different design, that included a yellow sun, symbolizing their ethnic minority.

There's been a lot of flag angst in Iraq, not least when in 2004, the US-controlled Iraqi Governing Council proposed this model, designed in London, and rejected en masse by Iraqis:





How long will the newest design last? Does it symbolize Iraqi unity?

The only people in Iraq who are 100% happy with the new emblem may just be the country's flagmakers.

-- Posted by Hala Gorani