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Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan)

image located by William Garrison, 3 January 2024

Description of the flag

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Description of the flag

An Afghanistan-OEF [U.S. military "Operation Enduring Freedom"] souvenir flag (2' x 3'), with a photo of Pres. Hamid Karzi, along with 3 white Arabic slogans.

On the green stripe: there is a portrait of Pres. Karzi, and the slogan: "The celebration of 8 Thor 1385". Regretfully, I do not know how the date "8 Thor 1385" is calculated into the western Gregorian calendar. I do not know if the "8 Thor 1385" refers to a Persian/Afghan hijri shamsi date or to an Arabic hijri qamari/ghamari (AH) date. 1385 AH = 2001 CE while 1385 AS = June 2006 CE? It may refer to the 9/11/2001 date when Afghan-based Osama bin Ladin directed the kamikaze airplane strikes against the NYC World Trade Towers, or perhaps the resulting U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in early October 2001, or Karzi's inauguration in Dec. 2004, or relates maybe to some other entirely different event. If it refers to 9/11, it does not make sense to "celebrate" it, unless it refers to the OEF campaign to oust the Taliban.

On the red stripe: there is the slogan: "Islamic State (of Afghanistan)" which came into being in April 1992. Regarding the central "coat of arms" logo, below the building is the year 1348 AH (1929 CE) - the same as in the 1930-1973 Afghanistan flag. The Arabic numeral is 1348 which is the Arab lunar Islamic (hijri qamari) date for 1929 AD/CE, when M. Nadir Shah's dynasty came to power.

On black stripe: a possible Pasto/Dari/Arabic slogan: something like: "Good luck to Afghanistan" or "May Afghanistan Win", with a flag-pole sleeve at the left of the black stripe; c. 2010?
Source: https://www.ebay.com

William Garrison, 3 January 2024