# Iran Flag Symbolism: The 1980 Redesign Explained

*History & War · Eleanor Hartwell · 2026-08-26*

## TL;DR

Iran's current flag, adopted in 1980 after the Islamic Revolution, replaces the old Lion and Sun emblem with a tulip-shaped Allah symbol and 22 white inscriptions of "Allahu Akbar" along the green and red bands. The design was created to represent the Islamic Republic's ideology, while the pre-revolution flag remains a symbol of opposition and nostalgia for many Iranian exiles.

## Key facts

- The current Iranian flag was officially adopted on July 29, 1980, shortly after the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
- The central emblem is a stylized rendering of the word "Allah" formed from four crescents and a vertical line, designed to also resemble a tulip, a symbol of martyrdom in Persian culture.
- The phrase "Allahu Akbar" appears 22 times on the flag, once for each day of the Bahman month in the Iranian calendar when the 1979 revolution culminated.
- The Lion and Sun symbol, used on Iranian flags for centuries under various dynasties, was removed from official state use after the 1979 revolution.
- The pre-revolution flag featuring the Lion and Sun is still flown by many Iranian exiles and opposition groups as a symbol of resistance to the current government.

## The Flag That Was Never an Accident

On July 29, 1980, the Islamic Republic of Iran officially adopted the flag that still flies today, and every single element of it was chosen with intention. This is not a case of a designer picking pleasant colors and calling it a day. The Iran flag symbolism runs deep, layer upon layer, and it all starts with that striking red emblem in the center.

Look closely at that red symbol and you will see it is actually the word "Allah," written in stylized calligraphy and designed as an ambigram. The same image reads correctly whether you view it right side up or flipped upside down. But the designer packed even more meaning into those sweeping curves. The vertical line, the "alef," represents tawhid, the oneness of God. The four crescents that curve around it symbolize Islam itself. And if you step back and squint a little, the whole shape resembles a tulip, a flower that carries deep weight in Iranian culture as a symbol of martyrdom.

This was a deliberate break from everything that came before. When the new flag was unveiled, it made no reference to ancient Persia or the romanticism of past empires. The message was clear: this state would mark its calendar not from the glory of old dynasties, but from the revolution itself. Every curve, every stroke, every repetition was a statement about what the new Iran wanted to be.

## Why 'Allahu Akbar' Appears 22 Times

Look closely at the green and red stripes of Iran's flag and you will notice something that is easy to miss at first glance. The phrase "Allahu Akbar" is written in Kufic script along the inner edges of both stripes, repeated 11 times on each one. That makes 22 repetitions in total, and this number is no accident.

The number 22 is a direct reference to the 22nd day of Bahman in the Iranian calendar. That is the date in 1979 when the Iranian Revolution triumphed, bringing an end to the monarchy and establishing the Islamic Republic. The designers of the flag, which was officially adopted in 1980, chose this number deliberately to fix the revolutionary slogan onto the national banner as a permanent historical timestamp. Every time the flag flies, it carries the date of the revolution's victory within its very pattern.

This design choice also made a powerful statement about what the new state wanted to leave behind. The 1980 redesign deliberately excluded pre-Islamic and monarchic symbols, most notably the Lion and Sun emblem that had appeared on Iranian flags for generations. The message was clear: this new state would not draw its legitimacy from the ancient Persian Empire or the shahs who had ruled before. Instead, the revolution itself would serve as the starting point for the country's history, and the flag would announce that break every day.

For anyone studying **Iran flag symbolism**, the 22 inscriptions offer one of the clearest examples of how deeply political and theological meaning can be woven into a national symbol. The repetition is not decorative; it is a quiet but insistent reminder of the moment everything changed.

## The Lion and Sun: A Symbol of 500 Years of Monarchy

Before the 1979 revolution swept through Iran, the national flag told a completely different story. At its center stood a golden lion holding a curved sword, with the sun rising behind its back. That image carried centuries of meaning about power, kingship, and the cosmic order, and it flew over Iran through two major dynasties before the Islamic Republic erased it from official use.

The Lion and Sun motif served as the official emblem during the Qajar dynasty (1789-1925) and later under the Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979). Both ruling houses created their own unique heraldic variations around the central theme, but the core symbol remained recognizable. The lion represented strength and royalty, while the sun evoked cosmic harmony and astrological tradition. Together they painted a picture of earthly authority rooted in history rather than divine mandate.

According to the original account, the symbol reportedly traces back roughly 500 years to the Safavid dynasty (1501-1736), though the exact continuity of its use on flags is imprecise. What we know with confidence is that the sword in the lion's paw carries deep religious significance. It represents Zulfiqar, the legendary sword of Imam Ali, the first Imam of Shia Islam. This connection became especially meaningful after 1501, when the Safavids established Shia Islam as Iran's official state religion.

When the Islamic Republic took power in 1979, this monarchic and semi-secular iconography had to go. The new regime understood that a flag drawing power from history, not from God, could not represent a theocratic state. The ban was absolute. Displaying the pre-revolutionary flag became illegal in Iran, and the Lion and Sun vanished from official life almost overnight.

For many Iranians living abroad, that old flag became a symbol of resistance. They fly it at protests and gatherings to signal their discontent with the Islamic Republic. The gesture carries weight precisely because the regime outlawed it. A piece of cloth that once represented centuries of royal tradition now represents opposition to everything that came after.

## How a Flag Becomes a Protest

Iran flag symbolism takes on a completely different meaning when you look at how people actually use flags to push back against the state. In Tehran, you cannot fly the old Lion and Sun flag, because displaying the pre-revolutionary version is illegal in the Islamic Republic. So protesters inside the country have found another way to speak through cloth: they take the current flag, the one adopted in 1980, and they turn it upside down.

That simple act of inversion carries real weight. The current flag was designed with intense care, from the stylized "Allah" ambigram in the center to the 22 repetitions of "Allahu Akbar" along the green and red stripes. Each element reinforces the revolutionary message of the state. When you flip that entire design on its head, you are not rejecting the flag itself. You are using the state's own symbol to say that its governance is fundamentally wrong. The same object that represents authority becomes the vehicle for criticizing that authority.

The irony is hard to miss. A flag designed to celebrate the 1979 revolution and the triumph of the Islamic Republic now gets turned upside down in protest videos and at demonstrations. The gesture is visual, immediate, and impossible for the state to ignore, because it borrows the regime's own iconography to condemn the regime. It is dissent that does not need words.

Meanwhile, many Iranians living abroad reach for the Lion and Sun flag instead. That emblem carries centuries of history, having appeared on flags during the Qajar dynasty (1789-1925) and the Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979). For diaspora communities, raising that flag is a way of saying they do not accept the Islamic Republic's version of Iran. The old flag represents a different national identity, one tied to monarchy and secular history rather than revolutionary theology. Since it is banned inside the country, flying it abroad becomes a statement that cannot be made at home.

What makes this whole dynamic so strange is that both approaches depend on the same assumption: flags matter. An inverted current flag and a banned historical flag are both attempts to reclaim visual space from the state. One works by rejection, the other by inversion, but both treat the flag as a living political argument rather than a piece of decorated fabric.


## Frequently asked questions

**What does the central emblem on the Iranian flag represent?**

The central red emblem on the flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran, officially adopted in 1980, is a stylized calligraphic rendering of the word "Allah" designed as an ambigram, meaning it reads identically from either direction. The design also evokes a tulip, a flower that carries deep meaning in Iranian culture, symbolizing both martyrdom and the oneness of God. The vertical stroke represents the unity of God, while the four crescents reference Islam.

**Why is "Allahu Akbar" written 22 times on the Iranian flag?**

The phrase "Allahu Akbar" appears 22 times on the current Iranian flag, with 11 repetitions along the inner edge of the green stripe and 11 along the red stripe. The number 22 is not arbitrary. It refers to the 22nd day of Bahman in the Iranian calendar, the date in 1979 when the Iranian Revolution achieved its final triumph. The slogan is written in Kufic calligraphy and serves as a permanent historical timestamp embedded directly into the national banner.

**What was the Lion and Sun symbol on the old Iranian flag?**

The Lion and Sun was the central motif on Iranian flags before the 1979 revolution, featuring a lion holding a sword known as Zulfiqar, the legendary blade of Imam Ali, positioned in front of a radiant sun. The emblem represented monarchy and Shia Islam, and it was used during both the Qajar dynasty (1789-1925) and the Pahlavi dynasty (1925-1979). The sword symbol connected to Shia tradition dates back to the Safavid dynasty, which established Shia Islam as Iran's official religion in 1501.

**Why was the Lion and Sun flag banned after the 1979 revolution?**

The Lion and Sun flag was banned because the new Islamic Republic deliberately sought to break with Iran's monarchic and semi-secular past. The emblem carried centuries of royal iconography, and the revolutionary government wanted to establish the 1979 revolution as the new historical milestone rather than continuing any association with the old dynasties. Displaying the pre-revolutionary flag is illegal in Iran, and the current flag adopted in 1980 contains only Islamic and revolutionary symbolism.

**How do Iranian protesters use the flag to show dissent?**

Iranian protesters use flags in two distinct ways to express opposition to the state. Some, particularly in the diaspora, display the banned pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag as a symbol of defiance against the Islamic Republic. Others within Iran fly the current flag upside down, a recognized protest gesture that signals serious objection to the government's governance. The inverted flag transforms the state's own symbol into a visual critique of the state itself.

**Why do some Iranian exiles use the pre-revolutionary flag?**

Many Iranians living in the West use the pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag because it represents their opposition to the Islamic Republic and connects them to a pre-revolutionary Iranian identity. The flag evokes a period before 1979, when Iran was a monarchy under the Pahlavi dynasty. For these exiles, the Lion and Sun is a symbol of cultural heritage and political dissent, even though displaying it inside Iran is illegal. Editorial note: Any facts which remain unconfirmed are presented as such, and the historical interpretations of the flag's symbols are offered as commonly accepted accounts rather than absolute certainties.

Canonical: https://curio.madeda.com/iran-flag-symbolism-the-1980-redesign-explained/