Mistaken Identity - Iranian Flag

The central motif of the national flag of the Islamic Republic of Iran bears a resemblance to the khanda emblem but it is not a khanda.

The Iranian flag is a recent construction approved for use on May 9, 1980 by the supreme Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. [1] Being a relatively new flag, its designer Hamid Nadimi may have drawn inspiration from the Sikh khanda emblem, but no evidence to support this possibility has been found to date.

The Iranian emblem consists of four crescents and a vertical line in the middle. The five stylized elements form the word Allah: read from right to left the first crescent is the letter aleph, the second crescent is the first laam; the vertical line is the second laam, and the third and fourth crescents together form the heh. Above the central stroke is a tashdid (a diacritical mark indicating emphasis) resembling a letter W. [2]

The vertical line in the middle has been interpreted by some to also be a sword, with a tashdid (the small w like character) above it indicating a doubling of the power of the sword. [3]

The overall shape of the Iranian emblem was chosen to resemble a tulip, for the memory of the people who died for Iran. It is an ancient belief in Iran, dating back to mythology, that if a young soldier dies patriotically a red tulip will grow on their grave. In recent years it has been considered the symbol of martyrdom. [4]

Footnotes

1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Iran

2. Ibid

3. www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=217369

4. http://www.xn--s4h.com