New flag for Iraq

The Iraqi parliament has approved a new flag design, eliminating the three green stars from the center band of the flag:

old flag



new flag


The three stars in the old Iraqi flag were for Iraq, Syria and Egypt, which under their Arab nationalist (Ba'ath in Iraq and Syria) leadership were supposed to form the United Arab Republic. The United Arab Republic, in any form, hasn't existed in around 45 years, plus it reminds everyone of the Ba'ath party, so they ditched the stars.

This is supposed to be a "temporary" design for when a new flag is agreed upon, theoretically next year. I will, however, be taking 2015 in the office betting pool.

Update: Changed on 25 January because Wiki changed the images on me. The "old" flag now comes from Flags of the World.