Sep 12, 2021 18:00:00

The flag of Afghanistan has changed more than 20 times in a turbulent 100 years

In August 2021, the Islamist Taliban entered Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, bloodlessly and regained power for the first time in about 20 years. As a result, the official name of Afghanistan was changed from 'Afghanistan Islamic Republic' to 'Afghanistan Islamic Emirate', and the national flag, which was a tricolor flag of black, red and green, was changed to a black and white design. The flag of Afghanistan has changed more than 20 times in 100 years, and Al Jazeera of the Middle East TV station explains the process.

Infographic: Afghanistan's flags over the years | Infographic News | Al Jazeera

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/19/infographic-what-afghanistans-new-flag-looks-like-interactive

The very first flag of Afghanistan was the green, white, and green bicolour flag enacted during the Durrani dynasty in the 18th century. This bicolour flag has been used for nearly 80 years. However, at this time, the country name was 'Durrani Empire' instead of 'Afghanistan'.

In 1834, the Durrani royal family split, and the Barakzai dynasty was established with the Barakzai tribe as the monarch. At this time, the name of the country was changed to 'Emirate of Afghanistan', and in 1880 it became a black national flag.

The flag was changed to the following when

Habibullah Khan , the King of the Emirate of Afghanistan, took the throne in 1901. The central symbol is a design in which a mosque and two crossed swords are surrounded by a laurel wreath.

However, Habibullah was assassinated in 1919 by being poisoned by his ears. His younger brother, Nasrullah Khan, who took the throne, was also arrested and died in prison. In addition, the national flag was changed when

Amanullah Khan , the son of Habibullah, who succeeded him, took the throne. The design inherits the national flag established by Hubby Buller, but the central symbol laurel wreath has been changed to octagram-shaped radiation, and the two crossed swords have also become smaller. Also, in 1921, a correction was made to reduce only the width of the central symbol and make it vertically elongated.

Amanullah, who won the Third Afghan War in 1919 and declared independence from Britain, changed his country name to 'Kingdom of Afghanistan' in 1926. And this is the design of the national flag that was changed again in 1928. The two crossing swords have disappeared and the laurel wreath has been changed to a wreath.

After that, Amanullah headed for a tour of Europe and made a third national flag change. The flag, which was all black, has become a tricolor flag of black, red, and green, and the central symbol has been changed to a design in which the sunrise and dawn stars, which signify the beginning of a new kingdom, are surrounded by a bundle of grains.

Then, in 1929,

Habibullah Karakani, backed by Britain, rebelled. Amanullah hands over the country to his younger brother Inayatullah Khan and escapes. Inayatullah was forced to abdicate by Karakani and retired from the throne. This is the national flag that Karakani has newly set up in three colors: red, black, and white.

However, Karakani was unable to stabilize the political situation and handed over the throne to his brother Shah Wari. Shortly thereafter, Shah Wari handed over the throne to

former Defense Minister Mohammed Nadir. The national flag established by Mohammed Nadir is now decorated with the emblem drawn on the national flag of the Amanullah era in three colors of black, red and green.

Mohammed Nadir was assassinated by the Hazara in 1933 for his policy of oppressing the

Hazara , a Mongolic ethnic group. The successor to the throne was his son Muhammad Zahir, whose national flag was changed. The emblem became larger while keeping the color, the pattern surrounding the mosque became grain, and the year when Mohammed Nadir became the throne in the Islamic calendar was engraved under the mosque.

The Zahir administration lasted for 40 years from 1933 to 1973. A military coup d'etat occurred in 1973, and Muhammad Zahir was abdicated.

Former Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud , who caused a military coup, abolished the monarchy and moved to a republic, becoming the first president of the 'Republic of Afghanistan.' In the process of becoming a republic, the national flag remained almost unchanged, but the only year engraved under the mosque was removed.

In 1974, the year after Afghanistan became a republic, the national flag changed to: The design is a combination of three colors, black, red, and green, with an eagle surrounded by a bunch of wheat on the upper left.

A mihrab is drawn in front of the eagle.

A military coup broke out again in Afghanistan in 1978. President Daoud was assassinated, and the Communist Party, the

People's Democratic Party, came to power, creating the 'Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.' The national flag is a simple tricolor flag with the coat of arms removed ...

Soon it became a flag with a design similar to the former Soviet Union, with a red one-color flag and a yellow coat of arms. The Persian alphabet on the coat of arms means 'calc (people)', and the words on the ribbon praise the military coup d'etat by the communist government.

The following year, in 1979, then-Prime Minister of Afghanistan

Nur Muhammad Taraki was arrested by Deputy Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin 's plot and was 'retired due to illness.' When Amin became Prime Minister, the emblem on the upper left of the flag was changed to 'wheat and gear' for agriculture and industry.

However, the Amin administration cracked down on Islamic clergy, and Islamic fundamentalists declared a rebellion against the government. The Soviet Union, which saw the situation seriously

, invaded Afghanistan, and Amin was assassinated by the KGB. As a result, the communist government backed by the Soviet Union was reestablished. Babrak Karmal became president, and the national flag was changed to the following black, red, and green horizontal tricolor flags. The coat of arms depicts the Communist Manifesto and Mihrab open above the green fields, as well as the communist red star, wheat and gears around the sun.

And when

Mohammad Najibullah became the new president in 1987, the national flag was further changed to the following. The books and stars are gone, and the gears have moved.

However, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 as the Soviet Union drastically changed its foreign policy with perestroika in the late 1980s. After that, the Soviet Union was dismantled, and in 1992 the national flag was changed to a green, white, and black horizontal tricolor flag with

Shahada written as 'Allah Akbar (Allah is great).'

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the People's Democratic Party, which had been in power until then, was scattered, and in March 1992, the Islamic militia organization

Mujahideen, led by Ahmad Shah Massoud , occupied the capital Kabul. In June of the same year , Burhanuddin Rabbani named himself 'Afghanistan Islamic State'. The national flags enacted at this time are as follows, and the colors remain green, white, and black. The coat of arms is a mosque and wheat, surrounded by two swords, and Shahada on top.

However, the opposition to the Rabani administration soon increased, and a coup d'etat broke out in January 1994.

The Taliban , an Islamic fundamentalist militia group that had been expanding its power in southern Afghanistan since around October 1996, occupied Kabul in September 1996 and declared 'Afghanistan Islamic Emirate'. The Taliban changed the national flag to a pure white one with nothing drawn on it ...

In 1997, I changed to the following national flag with Shahada added.

At that time, Osama bin Laden, who headed al-Qaeda, an international terrorist organization advocating Islamism, came into contact with Mohammed Omar , the founder of the Taliban.

In September 2001, al-Qaeda

broke out in the terrorist attacks on the United States , commonly known as the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As a result, the United States strongly condemned al-Qaeda and launched an attack on Afghanistan with Britain. This forced the Taliban's forces to retreat little by little, with the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance occupying Kabul in 2001 and a provisional government sponsored by the United States in the same year. The name of the country was changed to 'Afghanistan Islamic State' again, and the national flag was changed to the following with Shahada written in blue on the flag used before the Taliban administration.

In 2002, the Afghanistan Interim Government changed the country name to 'Afghanistan Islamic Interim Government'. The national flag has returned to the three-color flag of black, red, and green, and the emblem with the year of the mosque, wheat, Shahada, and Islamic calendar is displayed in the center. In addition, the national flag raised at the rally in June of the same year said that the emblem was gold instead of white.

The national flag remained the same when the Afghanistan Islamic Interim Government became the 'Islamic Republic of Afghanistan', but the design was revised in 2013 and the central emblem became larger.

In September 2014,

Ashraf Ghani became the second president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Abdullah Abdullah, who fought fiercely in the election, became the chief director, and the 'National Unity Government of Myanmar' was inaugurated. In September 2019, the presidential election was held again with two candidates, Ganny and Abdullah, and as a result, Ganny was re-elected. However, because Abdullah did not admit this, a new administration was established by Abdullah and Ganny, and Abdullah acted as a negotiator with the Taliban, which was still in the process of rebel movements at that time, but the Taliban's power was It was slowly expanding again.

In February 2020, former US President Donald Trump agreed with the Taliban to withdraw US troops stationed in Afghanistan. In April 2021, President Joe Biden also announced that he would completely withdraw US troops by September 11, 2021. In fact, the Taliban expanded its power at once as the US and NATO troops began withdrawing from Afghanistan in July 2021. After the escape of President Ganny of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban occupied Kabul and declared victory over the United States Government on August 16, 2021.

The Taliban changed its name to 'Afghanistan Islamic Emirate' again, and after returning the national flag to that of the Taliban administration in 1997, it changed the design to the following with the country name added in black. At the time of writing the article, the following are the latest.