![[Flag of AUA]](../images/a/assyr.gif)
image by
Ivan Sache
Last modified: 2006-07-28 by joe mcmillan
Keywords: assyria | assyrian universal alliance | sun | river | euphrates | tigris | zawa | sargon | star: 4 points (blue) | stars: 3 (white) |
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image by
Ivan Sache
The flag was designed by the Assyrian Universal Alliance in 1968. All elements in the design come from symbols from Assyrian reliefs. As to the present usage, it is universally accepted by Assyrians and those non-Assyrians who recognize the Assyrian nation (most Arabs do not).
Peter BetBasoo, 30 August 1995
The Assyrian flag consists of a golden circle at the center which
represents the sun. By its exploding and leaping flames it generates
heat and light to sustain the earth and all it's living things. The
four pointed star surrounding the sun symbolizes the land, its light
blue color means tranquility.
The wavy stripes extending from the center to the four corners of the
flag are the three major rivers of our homeland, namely Tigris,
Euphrates and Zawa. The dark blue represents Euphrates which stands
for the Assyrian word Prat meaning Per-U-Ta = abundance. The
red stripes represent Tigris, it's blood red hue stands for courage,
glory and pride. The white lines in between the two great rivers is
Zawa, it's white color stands tranquility and peace. Some interpret
the red, white and blue stripes as the highways that will take the
scattered Assyrians back to their ancestral homeland.
Above the blue star is the image of the Assyrian god Assur, who is
guarding the country the flag and the nation it represents. On top of
the flagstaff is the standard of King Sargon I, who established the
first Assyrian empire. During the ancient times this insignia stood
by the king's side to let everyone know his whereabouts.
Peter BetBasoo, 29 August 1995
1918
In 1918 Assyrians proclaimed an independent state (from Ottoman Empire). It seems they used a white(?) flag with a blue cross of unknown size.
1968
The Assyrians adopted on 10 April 1968 their first emblem displaying the emblem of king Sargon.
1971
In 1971, the Assyrian Congress in Teheran adopted a flag similar to the current one but with the Sargon emblem in black and without the blue four-pointed star.
1972
In 1972, the flag was changed during the Geneva Congress: the flag was diagonally striped blue-white-red from upper hoist to lower fly, the white stripe being twice larger than the two other ones. In the middle of the flag was the same emblem as in the center of the current flag.
1973
In 1973 in Yonkeers the flag was reversed to the 1971 design, but
with the blue fourpointed star and the Sargon emblem in red.
Flaggenmitteilung [fml] #93
reports a variant with a dark yellow star and a central disk blue
with a white border.
Jaume Ollé, 26 December 1999
image by Ivan Sache
"This flag was in use by the Assyrian American Federation prior to 1975 when it dropped for the current Assyrian flag. The three stars represented the Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syriac names of our nation."
image by Ivan Sache
Smith [smi75c] reports a flag for
the Assyrians, but does note give any reference about its orign.
The flag is vertically divided purple-yellow-green, with white
crescent and star in the upper hoist, pointing towards lower fly.
Jaume Ollé, 26 December 1999
The book: Nations Without States: A Historical Dictionary of
Contemporary National Movements. by James Minahan (1996,
Greenwood Press) covers Assyria on pages 247-248. It says:
'A small minority of the Assyrians, around 1%, has converted to
Islam, but remains Assyrian in culture and language...The flag of the
Muslim Assyrian minority is a vertical tricolor of violet, yellow and
green, bearing a white crescent moon and five-pointed star on the
upper hoist."
Ned Smith, 12 February 2001
Flag Report presented recently another Assyrian flag, yellow with Sargon emblem in gold and red in the center. It seems to be the Assyrian flag used in the de facto independent Kurdistan (as shown in the Kurdish TV) and perhaps also in Iraq if permitted.