the art of flag design

It's been quite some time since Saizou and I chatted about the new Iraqi flag, but a Slate article revisited the topic and I figure it might be worth a mention here.

Flags of the Middle East (image created by Wikipedia)


Is it any wonder that people might be displeased by the design?

A few weeks ago in Fallujah, a Reuters photographer snapped a photograph of this guy — who looks a lot more like a middle-class shopkeeper than an anarchist or insurgent — setting fire to the new Iraqi flag only a couple days after it was unveiled. The scene is especially striking when you consider that the new flag hasn't even begun to be manufactured yet. The man in the photo was apparently angry enough about the flag that he stitched together his own crude version just so he could torch it

But to his credit, the flag designer Rifat al-Chadirchi, had good intentions. He told CNN that his goal was a "simple, straightforward" flag that makes a "powerful statement." And the flag does manage to include a number of important symbols: A crescent moon for Islam; two blue bands for the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and, by extension, the Sunni and Shiite populations since the river basin is their heartland; and a yellow band for the Kurds. All without looking too cluttered.

It's a pity the flag is such a political disaster. Meanwhile, the Governing Council has stated that the colour of the crescent will be darkened and that the flag is only temporary.