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Iranian Empire (Pahlavi dynasty): Imperial standards

Last modified: 2021-04-10 by ian macdonald
Keywords: lion (yellow) | sun (yellow) | sword (yellow) | imperial standard | crown (yellow) | crown prince | prince |
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Imperial standard (first version)

[Iranian imperial standard] image by Željko Heimer

Source: Flaggenbuch [neu92], Pedersen (1971) [ped71]

The flag of the Shah was a square blue flag with a centered crown (of the same design as in the coat of arms) with a small square canton in the upper left corner including the national flag with the coat of arms.
Marcus Wendel
& Ivan Sache, 15 September 1999
In Flaggenbuch, the size of the imperial Standard is given as 124 x 124 cm, with square canton of 21 cm.
Željko Heimer
, 14 November 2001


Crown Prince's standard

[Crown Prince's standard] image by Željko Heimer

Source: Flaggenbuch [neu92]
Similar to the imperial Standard, but without the emblem in the tricolour canton.
Željko Heimer
, 14 November 2001


Prince's standard

[Prince's standard] image by Željko Heimer

Source: Flaggenbuch [neu92]

Light blue square flag with the crown in the middle.

Željko Heimer, 14 November 2001


Imperial standard (second version)

Shah's standard

[Persian imperial standard] image located by Pascal Vagnat, 1 June 2008

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org and WIPO
Pascal Vagnat, 1 June 2008

Shahbanu's (Empress) standard

[Persian imperial standard] image located by Pascal Vagnat, 1 June 2008

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org and WIPO
Pascal Vagnat, 1 June 2008

Prince Reza Pahlavi's Standard

[Persian imperial standard] image by Santiago Tazon

A more recent version of the imperial standard is shown on Farah Pahlavi's website, which says:

The Imperial standard consists of a pale-blue field with the official flag in the upper left corner and the Pahlavi coat of arms in the centre. At the top of the coat of arms is the Pahlavi crown, created for the Coronation of Reza Shah the Great in 1926. Beneath is the Imperial motto:
Mara dad farmud va Khod Davar Ast (Justice He bids me do, As He will judge me).

Pale blue is the colour of the Imperial Family.

Santiago Tazon, 13 June 2001

A similar flag (although with the shield reversed) is found at http://en.wikipedia.org and WIPO.
Pascal Vagnat, 1 June 2008


Imperial arms

[Imperial arms] image by Martin Grieve


Imperial standard (third version)

[Persian imperial standard] image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 30 October 2007

Persia kings standard
It is a light blue square flag with a green over white over pink horizontal tricolour in the canton and a golden coat of arms in the centre of the flag. There is however a contradiction. The flag shows obviously the colours, which have been used, according to FOTW, by the Qajars, but the crown in the coat of arms is that one of the Pahlavis. So it might be a very early Pahlavi standard. Note: Source denotes the flag as kings standard, literally translation from "shah" to "König". I guess however the rulers thought themselves being emperors.
Cigarette Source:
ALBUM "Die Welt in Bildern Album 7 : Flaggen der Welt, aussereuropäische Staaten", edited between 1928 and 1932 according to the international boundaries in the included map of the world. The flag is depicted in the ALBUM on p.8, image no.259.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 30 October 2007


Imperial standard used in coronation, 1967

[Persian imperial standard] image by Željko Heimer, 14 November 2016

A film of the Shah of Iran's coronation in 1967 is posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcvw0jvewR0. Unmistakably, it shows the Imperial Standard with a compony border of angled compartments, in red, white and (presumably) green. It can be seen at these points in the clip: 0:25–0:45; 17:47–17:53; 18:16–18:18; 23:52–24:52. Here's a screen shot from 17:48 (detail).
David Phillips, 13 November 2016

I am not sure what the corner elements are. A bit clearer (and better colored) version of the coronation is posted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2K7OilsAqk. Note the flag at 13:49. The central element is, apparently, his imperial arms. The corner elements seem to be some solar depictions, cf. around 5:48 of the movie. The image above uses the Wikipedia imperial arms from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coat_of_Arms_of_Pahlavi_dynasty.jpg
ˇeljko Heimer, 14 November 2016

[Persian imperial standard] image located by Bill Garrison, 16 March 2021

At https://www.pinterest.com/pin/711639178619154717/ in the bottom corner the roundel appears as an embossed "golden sun" roundel, and the central design appears to be different, too; and perhaps a lighter blue background; c. 26 Oct.1967 Queen's coronation.
Bill Garrison, 16 March 2021