Pishdadian era
(circa 750 BCE)
 The
first legendary Flag of Iran is said to be the Derafshe
Kaviani. It was made of a long rectangular leather apron
as used by national hero Kaveh the ironsmith during the
reign of King Fereidoun. Ferdosi the
Persian “Homer” referred
to this leather apron as the symbol of Iranian independence,
resistance, resilience and the revolutionary momentum of
the masses revolt against evil invaders. This Flag was
decorated with yellow, magenta and scarlet silk string
tassels. Kaveh was later pronounced Kavak in Sassanid Pahlavi
language meaning “glorious”, and so the Derafshe
Kaviani was also called, the Glorious Flag of Iran.
Achaemeniads
Empire (559-323 BCE)
During the Archenemies,
especially the Cyrus era, the Persian Empire Flag was
made of up of a kinglike image,
rectangular in shape, split into four equivalent triangles.
Each two of these four train triangles had the same
color. The national Iranian Flag was, however, the same
as the
Derafshe Kaviani as cited earlier.
Sassanids
Dynasty (224-642 CE)
The Flag at this historical juncture
was again made of rectangular leather, covered with thin
layer of silk ornamented with jewels, in the center of
which there was a four cornered star, pointing to the four corners of the
world. This is the same star referred to as Akhtare Kaviani (the Kaviani
star) by Ferdowsi in the epics of Shahnameh (the Book of Kings). This Flag
was larger than the original Derafshe Kaviani installed on a long javelin,
the tip of which was shown above the flag. At the bottom of this flag there
were woven strings of yellow, magenta and scarlet, hanging from them were
large jewels.
The Iranian Flag after the
advent of Islam (650-900 CE)
Although there was no universally accepted
flag in Iran at the time, one should nonetheless cite the
existence of two flags that ultimately became symbols
of resistance against the Arabian Islamic invaders: 1. Moslem Khorasani who led the resistance struggle against the invaders mostly
in eastern Iran’s Khorasan and central Asia, used a large rectangular
Flag in solid black and with no other symbols on it.
2. Bobak Khorram Din, who primarily led the resistance struggle against the
Arab invaders along the Caspian Sea in today’s Mazandaran and Guilan,
employed a large rectangular Flag in solid red with no other symbols on it.
It is believed that the two above plain Flags had no figurative
or other expressive symbols on them, since Islam, denouncing the worship of
idols, had strongly
forbidden against such symbols.
Ghaznavi Kings (998-1052 CE)
 Sultan Mahmoud Ghaznavi, the founder of the first Persian dynasty after
the Arab invasion who reinstated the use of symbolic expressions on the
Iranian
Flag. This solid rectangular black Flag had in its center inscribed a golden
moon.
Sultan Mahmoud Ghazavi is also credited as the first, whom inspired by Lion’s
inscription on the walls of Perspolis and silverware left from 2600 years ago,
began using the lion as a national symbol. It was indeed during Sultan Mahmoud’s
rein when an archeological plate with a lion inscribed on it, a sun on its
shoulders, and its right hand raised, was excavated in Rey. We now have historical
evidence to conclude that although both the lion and the sun emerged on our
Flag 700 years ago, the lion image alone had appeared on the Iranian Flag from
at least 950 years ago. We must also emphasize that the Lion and the sun were
inscribed on the walls of Persepolis 2500 years ago.
Many scholars believe Iranians used the sun to represent a reemergence of
Mitra in their culture after the advent of Islam, as the use of figurative
imagery of Mitra herself was prohibited by Islamic decree. In Mehrism/Mithraism’s
ascension to paradise, the fourth step is attributed to lion and the sixth
one attributed to the sun.
The Lion as Icon
 The
lion symbolized power, decisiveness, and strong leadership with justice and
equity in mind since antiquity. Again
with the advent
of Islam
and the adoption of Shiisim in Iran, this lion was manifested with close
association to Ali, the Prophet Mohammad’s cousin, thus the Ali’s
lion (shire Morteza Ali) as known in the Medieval Iranian literature. Although
the Atabakan-e
Pars and Khawrizmshaian dynasties at times utilized Flags that were black
or red, the lion, nonetheless, remained an integral component of their Flag.
The
sun for Iranians has remained a symbol of permanence, energy, life, light
and illumination and enlightenment, cleanliness and absolution, the driving
force
behind the cycles of animals and plants. It has been regarded as the celestial
body that plays a crucial role in human life since pre-historic antiquity.
Sun as the symbol of Mithraism, Mazdaism, Monism and Mehr faiths in Persia
preceded Christianity for almost 1400 years; Mithraism is said by some to
be the precursor of Christianity, as evident by archeological ruins in the
lower
level of the Vatican.
Safavid Dynasty (1502-1736 CE)
 The
Safavids were the descendents of Sheik Joneid, who himself was one of Sheikh
Safiuddin Ardebili’s grandsons. There is evidence that the lion
and sun symbol appeared on Sheikh Joneid’s Flag. One can therefore recognize
the regular and continuous use of the lion and the sun on Iranian Flag representing
the national identity since 1400 CE, notwithstanding the inevitable dynastic
changes in the government. Among the Safavid kings, Shah Esmail and Shah Tahmasb
were the only ones who adopted Flags without the lion and the sun. Shah Esmail’s
Flag was triangular green with a moon on top, while Shah Tahmasb’s was
a green triangle with a sheep on top, since he was born in Farvardin (Capricorn
zodiac).
The Afsharieh Dynasty (173-1805)
The Iranian Flag had one solid color: black, red or green since the Sassanids
through the Safavids. Nader Shah Afhar removed the black and replaced it
with white while maintaining the other two, red and green. He still maintained
the triangular geometry of the Flag with the lion and the sun but no sword
in the lion’s hand.
The Zandieh (1750-1794 CE)
This was a very short period in Iranian history and we do not know what their
Flag looked like.
The Qajar Dynasty (1779-1924 CE)
The Iranian Flag became a four-cornered rectangle for the
first time one during the reign of Agha Mohammad Khan. The triangular shaped
Flag therefore, as “inspired” from
the Tazian (Arab) invasion of nearly a millennium earlier, was finally
put to oblivion. This king is the one who integrated in the two-edged ”Ali” sword
as it had appeared in certain Safavid era Flags with the lion and the sun,
thus the lion, sun and sword as we still have it integral of the Flag today.
The sword was always regarded as a symbol for power, justice and people’s
resistance, and thus had socio-cultural but equally significant religious
meaning. It was during the Mohammad Shah reign that the three colored
flag (horizontal equal stripes of green on top, white in the middle, and green
on bottom) and
a lion, sun and sword as inscribed or evolved in our  history for at least over
2500 years, was officially chartered as the Flag representing the Nation of
Iran (Persia) worldwide. During Naseer-eddin Shah, the crown, as it had for
a short period been accepted, was removed, presumably to differentiate
the national Flag from the monarchy. Mozaffar-eddin Shah officially endorsed
the Mashrootiat (Monarchy system) as adopted in part from the French and
Belgian systems of government and consistent
with the unique cultural and religious traditions in the country. The new 1906
Constitution cites in its Fifth Amendment Article:
The Official Flag of Iran is the three striped colored green-white-red with
a lion and sun
in its center. No mention of the royal crown is cited.
 The Pahlavi Dynasty (1925-1979)
This
Flag remained the official Flag during the reign of Pahlavi. During the Pahlavi
reign, a royal light blue Flag with a royal emblem
(right) was developed for the sole purpose of representing the Pahlavi
family. During the latter decades of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the three-colored
only
Flag without the lion, sun and the sword was regarded as the National
Flag (Melli) and employed by the retailers, private sectors and non-governmental
organizations.
The Islamic Republic (1979-)
 In 1979, the newly established Islamic republic of IRAN removed
the lion and the sun, and replaced it with a calligraphic Arabic word design
in the Flag
center that could either be read as “Allah” (GOD) and or Laelaha
Ellallah (there is no God but one almighty God). Then, the word Allaho Akbar
(God is the greatest) was placed eleven times along the white stripe in both
the green and the red sections, for a total of 22 times to signify the 22nd
of Bahman, the day of the “Islamic Republic” founding. For a short
period in 1979-80, this was the sole flag of Iran. The same had also been regarded
as the National flag of Iran during the Pahlavi rein.
Mythological and
Symbolic Meanings The
Lion as inscribed in Persepolis (circa 555
BCE)
Color Green - Religions*, appreciation
of natural esthetics. Green is a
sacred color in Islam attributed to Mohammad’s descendents;
green is also denoted in Pire-Sabz (the green pontiff),
the Zoroastrian Pilgrimage near Yazd.
Color White - Friendship,
reconciliation, peace, purity, passage from the
material world, Zoroaster’s favorite sacred color
Color Red - Sacrifice,
revolution, martyrdom, tinkering and dynamical thinking
safeguarding the country’s
and nation’s independent and integrity
Lion - Bravery, magnificence
Sun - and its twelve
beams, warmth, source of energy and life, continuity
Sword - Resistance,
strength, triumph, resilience
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