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image by Zoltan Horvath, 15 June 2024
Erbil, 10 June 1999
In its ordinary session today, the Council of
Ministers of the Kurdistan Regional Government – KRG discussed a law proposal
concerning raising Kurdistan flag over government buildings in the Kurdish
region along side the Iraqi
flag. The Kurdistan flag comprises of three horizontally arranged colours
red, white and green with a yellow sun in the centre. The proposed law will be
presented soon to the Kurdistan Regional Parliament for approval. Also at the
meeting, the Council of Ministers put forward a proposal to create four more
governorates in the Iraqi Kurdistan. The proposed governorates are Halabja, Soran, Rania and
Akra.
Rezhan, 17 June 1999
Iraq has on several occasions recognized Kurdish autonomy, but it was usually
a trick which led to war. Most recently, Iraq has not recognized it but the
Kurds have been de facto independent since the Gulf war allies created a
safe-haven. While Kurdish leaders have been warmly received by European heads of
state, nobody wants to recognize Kurdish independence de jure. The dismemberment
of Iraq is considered taboo (enhanced power to Iran, complications of Turkish
claims to the Mosul villayet which was never intended to belong to Iraq, etc.)
Kurdistan had free elections on 19 May 1992, but the presidential vote and
parliamentary vote were pretty much tied at 45% between the Kurdistan Democratic
Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK). They set up a government of national unity, but the
situation soon degenerated into civil war. (The National Assembly was in Arbil,
the town just seized by Iraq and the KDP from the PUK.)
Stuart A. Notholt, 07 September 1996
The PUK and the KDP control separate
but contiguous areas in the north in which Baghdad's writ has not run
for more than 10 years now. At the moment, they have chosen a
common "prime minister" and government that nominally rules what the
Kurds describe as an autonomous region within Iraq. If I recall correctly, such a
region is provided for in the Iraqi constitution. In fact, the KDP
runs the governorates of Zakhu and about half of Irbil and the PUK
runs the the Suleimaniye governorate and the other half of Irbil. My
understanding of the vexillological implications is that there is a
flag adopted by the government [shown above] of the autonomous region and also
flags for each of the parties, but not separate flags for the
portions of the region that each of the two parties dominate.
Joseph McMillan, 03 April 2003
On 25 July 2009 the six Kurdish provinces of northern Iraq forming the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) held parliamentary and presidential
elections. The KRG has been dominated by the alliance of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) that fields a
unified list of candidates called the Kurdistan List. Many Kurds have become
disenchanted with what they view as corruption and nepotism in KPD-PUK
alliance, but opposition parties until now have not presented a significant
challenge.
Gorran (Change) is a new Kurdish political party, founded 3 months ago by
Nawshirwan Mustafa, a defector from the PUK (the party of Iraq President
Jalal Talabani). On election day there was much talk of a possible
upset by Gorran, and Gorran immediately charged instances of fraud in the
election when they failed. The official results show the Kurdistan
List with an absolute majority of 60%, and Gorran with 23.8%, insufficient
even to form a ruling coalition with other smaller parties. But for a very
new party, Gorran's showing significantly changes the nature of Kurdish
politics.
Here are a few links showing the Gorran flag:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nawshirwan-Mustafa/15492598300#/photo.php?pid=3023502&id=105226981100
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/27/world/middleeast/27kurds.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qwNXbkdf64&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9BGns9i3N4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqlofL6YdOk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgQQ5VIneSQ&feature=related
T.F. Mills, 02 August 2009
Disputed Iraqi province Kirkuk votes to fly Kurdish flag:
Provincial
councillors in disputed, oil-rich Kirkuk province voted Tuesday to fly the
Kurdish regional flag over...
The oil-rich Kirkuk Iraqi province of Kirkuk has adopted the Kurdish flag.
From now on it flies in stead of the Iraqi flag.
Jos Poels, 30 March
2017
I have just found press accounts in my files which refer to the Kurds tearing
down Iraqi flags and hoisting the Kurdish "red-white-green tricolor". So, there
is proof that the joint KDP-PUK administration in Iraqi Kurdistan indeed has a
flag, but it is not clear which tricolor it is. From other sources I am fairly
sure it is indeed the one with the long sun rays. This is the flag most often
seen in non-Anatolian Kurdish circles, and may have been in existence since the
late 1970s or early 1980s.
T. F. Mills, 27 September 1997
image located by Esteban Rivera, 11 September 2023
In September, the 2017 Kurdistan Region independence referendum was held
regarding Kurdish independence from Iraq. 92% of Iraqi Kurds participating in
the referendum voted in favor of independence. The referendum was regarded as
illegal by the federal government in Baghdad, and on 6 November, Iraq's Supreme
Federal Court ruled that no Iraqi province was allowed to secede in order to
preserve the unity of Iraq.
On 14 November, the KRG announced it would
respect the Supreme Federal Court's ruling, stating that "this decision must
become a basis for starting an inclusive national dialogue between (Kurdish
authorities in) Erbil and Baghdad to resolve all disputes.
Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Regional_Government
The flag
is a horizontal background with the logo in the middle. It is used alongside the
flag at the top of this page.
image located by Esteban Rivera, 11
September 2023
The logo is described as follows: There is a
golden eagle with black
head with a sun at the top, adorned with the Kurdistan flag colors (green,
red, and yellow) as sunbeams. At the bottom, over a black ribbon there's an
inscription that says the Kurdistan Regional Government in Kurdish, Arabic
and English languages. This eagle is dubbed the Eagle of Saladin.
Source:
https://ku.wikipedia.org/
It is not clear when these symbols (logo and flag) have been adopted.
For
additional information go to Gov. Krd. (official website):
https://gov.krd/english/
Esteban Rivera, 11 September 2023