Iraq National Flag - 1963 to 1991.
This small, synthetic, Iraqi national flag is a war trophy from the Persian Gulf War codenamed Operation Desert Shield and/or Operation Desert Storm. The red, white, green and black colors derive from the flag of the Kingdom of Iraq, which had been based on the 1916 Arab Liberation flag, raised during the Arab Revolt when Arabs in the Ottoman Empire sought their independence.
This flag was adopted after the Ba'ath Party (Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party) came to power in 1963, the three green stars represent the watchwords of the Ba-thist philosophy, Freedom, Unity and Socialism. In 1991, after his loss in the Gulf War, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein added the Takbir (Allah Akbar) to the center stripe, also in green. (See ZFC3717 and ZFC3718)
This example is not a unit color, but an Iraqi national flag of the type used on vehicles. Small flags like this are highly prized by soldiers. The exact circumstances of this flag's capture are unknown, but it is similar to other Iraqi flags in the Zaricor Flag Collection.
Provenance: This flag was acquired from a Gulf War veteran in the mid-1990s at the Bay Area Militaria Show in San Jose California.
ZFC Important Flag
Sources:
Evolution of the Present Iraqi Flag, 1963-2004, Flags of the World, 7 May 2012, from: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/iq_evol.html#1963
Flag of Iraq, Wikipedia, 7 May 2012, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Iraq
Image Credits:
Zaricor Flag Collection
