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Iran

 

Contents

Flag

Historical Flags

Meaning/Origin of the Flag

Coat of Arms

Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

Aircraft Roundel

Map

Numbers and Facts

History

Origin of the Country's Name



Flag

Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia National flag national flag
National flag,
ratio = 5:9,
Source: See File history below for details.,
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons



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Historical Flags

Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Safawiden Safavid dynasty
1576–1665,
Flag under the Safavid dynasty,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Safawiden Safavid dynasty
1665–1722,
Flag under the Safavid dynasty,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Afschariden Afsharid dynasty
1737–1796,
Flag under the Afsharid dynasty,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Zand-Dynastie Zand dynasty
1750–1794,
Flag under the Zand dynasty,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Kadscharen-Dynastie Qajar dynasty
1797–1845,
Flag under the Qajar dynasty,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Kadscharen-Dynastie Qajar dynasty
ca.1845–ca.1848,
Flag under the Qajar dynasty,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Kadscharen-Dynastie Qajar dynasty
ca.1848–1896,
State flag,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Kadscharen-Dynastie Qajar dynasty
1896–1907,
State flag,
Source, by: www.worldstatesmen.org




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Kadscharen-Dynastie Qajar dynasty
1907–1910,
National and merchant flag,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Kadscharen-Dynastie Qajar dynasty
1907–1910,
State and naval flag,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia National flag Merchant flag national merchant flag
1910–1925,
National and merchant flag,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia State flag state flag
1910–1925,
State flag,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia National flag State flag Merchant flag national state merchant flag
1925–1964, National state and merchant flag,
1964–1979, State flag,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia National flag Merchant flag national merchant flag
1964–1979,
National and merchant flag,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Naval flag naval flag
1964–1979,
Naval flag,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Naval jack naval jack
1925–1979(?),
Naval jack,
Source, by: Das Flaggenbuch




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Lotsenflagge pilot jack
1964–1979,
Pilot jack and differentiational flag for pilot's vessels,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Schah Shah emperor
to 1971(?),
Flag of the Shah,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Kronprinz Crown Prince
to 1971(?),
Flag of the Crown Prince,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Prinz Prince
to 1971(?),
Flag of the Princes,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Verteidigungsminister Minister of Defense
to 1979,
Flag the of Minister of Defense,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Minister
to 1979,
Flag for Ministers,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Oberkommandierender Streitkräfte Supreme Commander Armed Forces
to 1979,
Standard of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Admiral Admirale Admirals
to 1979,
Flag for Admirals,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Kommandeur Kriegshafen Commander war harbour
to 1979,
Standard of a Commander of a war harbour,
Source, by: FOTW




Flagge Fahne flag Iran Persien Persia Roter Löwe Red Lion
to 1979,
Flag of the Red Lion,
Source, by: Wikipedia (DE)



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Meaning/Origin of the Flag

The today's flag was introduced on 29th of July in 1980. It shows three horizontal stripes in green, white and red. The white middle stripe is separated by narrow stripes in stylized Arabian fonts from the green and the red stripe. The red coat of arms is placed centrally in the white stripe. The colours green, white and red have their roots in the end of the 19th century. Today they have the following meaning: green is the colour of the Islam, white is the colour of peace and red red is the colour of courage and bravery. The Arabian fonts mean "Allah Akbar" (Allah is great) above and below ever eleven times. The with this altogether twentytwo fonts ornaments refer to the date of the 22nd Bahman (11th of Februaryin 1979 – day of the return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran).

The ancient Persia used white flags with pictures of the lion and sun. These symbols, and even the color combination of red, white and green, go back to the ancient people of the Medes, the ancestors of the Persians. The sun has its origins in the Mithraic cult, the religion of the Medes and the Persians. According to other sources, the sun stood for the later popular doctrine of Zoroaster and the purity of thought, but the symbol is much older. The lion stood for strength and courage. The symbols and flags often changed with the ruling dynasties. Sometimes also within a dynasty. Worth mentioning is here the 17th century under the Safavids, when the former monochrome green flags with lion and sun were replaced by striped flags, in which the colors red, blue and white dominated, sometimes added by a golden stripe. A practice which the Afsharids have maintained. The timely and locally-governing Zand-Princes returned to a single-colored flag. That was white with a narrow green border, and the lion and the sun reappeared on the flag. Then the green border fell away among the Qajar dynasty (Kadzars). From the middle to the end of the 18th century, a striped flag in green, white and red with a lion and a sun was used for the first time. In 1896 it was replaced by a white flag with a green border and lion and sun in the middle. After the bourgeois revolution, the white flag was surrounded by a green-red border. In the year 1910 was introduced a new flag in horizontal arrangement of the colours green, white and red. This flag was mostly used in the ratio of 1:3. In the year 1925 the dynasty of the Pahlewi tooked over the throne. There were initiated many reforms and in the year 1933 was even exactly described the view of the flag for instance the exact view of the red colour which was previously pictured as a pink ("apple red"). The type and manner of the portrayal of lion and sun was standardized not until the begin of the 19th century, as the "order of the lion and the sun" was established in 1806. From this order was transfered again the symbolism to the flags of the country. Perhaps since the year 1845 the lion was pictured with the sword of Ali – son-in-law of the prophet Mohammed and founder of the Shia, probably to clarify the readiness for defense of the Shia against the reform ambitions of the Babism. From time to time the flag of Persia was surrounded by a broad green border. Green is the colour of the Fatimides, an ismailite-shiite dynasty of Califes, which goes back to the fourth Calif Ali; green is also in general the colour of the Islam. In the period between the proclamation of the Islamic Republic of Iran on 1st of April in 1979 and the date of the adoption of today's flag on 29th of July in 1980 were in use green-white-red flags without the lion-and-sun-symbol. With the today's flag the Islamic Republic maintained only the colours from the old Iranian flags. Otherwise every heraldical memory to the shahs became erased. The colors of the flag are today defined as follows: red = HEX: #da0000, RGB 218|0|0, CMYK 0|100|100|15, Pantone 179; green = HEX: #239f40, RGB 35|159|64, CMYK 78|0|60|38, Pantone 355. The flag of the Red Lion was created after the model of the flag of the Red Cross and represented until 1980 an analagous, only for Persians (Iranians) responsible organization.

Source: Volker Preuß by Die Welt der Flaggen, Wappen und Flaggen aller Nationen, Wikipedia (D)

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Coat of Arms


Wappen coat of arms Persien Iran Persia
Emblem of Persia/Iran


Wappen coat of arms Persien Iran
Emblem of the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Source: nach by: Wikipedia (DE)

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Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms of the Empire of Iran (Keshvaré Shahanshahiyé Irân), until 1935 named Persia, has it's roots in the symbolism of the "order of the lion and the sun". But both symbols are essentially elder and they were in use by Persia already in the middle ages. On the upper side of the coat of arms is to distinguish the crown of the Pahlewi dynasty. The in the today's flag in red depicted emblem is as coat of arms of the state coloured in green. It consists of four crescents, arranged like a globe. In the center a sword amplifyed and accentuated by an Arabian letter on the top. The sword and the crescents stand for the five fundamental principles of the Islamic religion. The globe symbolizes the worldwide struggle of the oppressed nations.

Source: Volker Preuß by Flaggen und Coat of arms of the Welt

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Aircraft Roundel

Flugzeugkokarde Kokarde aircraft roundel Iran
Aircraft roundel of the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)

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Map

Location:

Source: CIA World Factbook

Map of the country:

Source: CIA World Factbook

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Numbers and Facts

Area: 636.368 square miles

Inhabitants: 82.900.000 (2019), thereof 58% Persians, 20% Azerbaijani, 8% Kurds, 7% Lures, 3% Bakhtiars, 2% Arabs

Religions: 99% Muslim (thereof 93% Shi'a), 1% Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism

Density of Population: 130 inh./sq.mi.

Capital: Teheran, 8.693.706 inh. (2016)

official Language: Persian

other Languages: Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Arabian

Currency: 1 Rial (Rl, IRR, Toman) = 100 Dinar

Time Zone: GMT + 3,5 h

Source: Wikipedia (DE)

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History

3rd millenary B.C. · State of Elam

ca. 1000 B.C. · immigration of the Aryan tribes

650 B.C. · the tribe of the Persians captures the landscape of Parsa and gets in this wise it's name

550 B.C. · victory over the Medians

547 B.C. · victory over the Lydians

539 B.C. · victory over Babylonia

525 B.C. · Persian conquest of Egypt

490 B.C. · defeat near Marathon against the Greek

331 B.C. · battle near Gaugamela, Alexander the Great subjects Persia

323 B.C. · death of the Alexander

312 B.C. · Alexander's general Seleukos becomes Satrap (Diadoch) of Babylon, the Satrapy of Babylon extends initialy only on the area of the southeastern part of the today's Iraq, Seleukos establishes the dynasty of the Seleukides (until 160 B.C.), later expansion of the Seleukide's Empire over the territories of the today's Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq , Syria and southern Turkey

243 B.C. · for the first time in the history appears the name Iran (Eran - land of the Aryans) auf

150 B.C.–224 A.D. · reign of the parthian Arsakide's dynasty over Persia

224–642 · reign of the Sassanide's dynasty over Persia (Zarathustrian state religion)

642 · collapse of the Persian Empire because of the Arabian onslaught, penetration of the Islam, Persia gets a part of the Arabian Califate

ca. 850 · Persia is only nominally dependent from the Califate

1040 · conquest by the Turkish Seljuqs

1256–1258 · Mongolians invade under Huelaegue (Dshingis Khan), establishment of the reign of the Mongolian Ilkhanes (until 1335)

1382–1393 · conquest by the Mongolian leader Timur Lenk

1502 · establishment of the Safavid dynasty, foundation of the New Persian Empire, the shiite Islam becomes state religion

1747 · separation of Afghanistan

1786–1925 · reign of the Qajar dynasty

1803–1823 · Persia loses it's Caucasian possessions to Russia

1905–1906 · civil revolution

1907 · division of Persia into Russian and British zones of influence

1914–1915 · military occupation of the zones of influence by Russia and United Kingdom

1919 · Persia becomes a British protectorate

1921 · coup d'état by Reza Schah Pahlewi

1925 · deposition of the last Qajar shah, Reza Pahlewi lets proclaim itself as shah, foundation of the Pahlewi dynasty

1935 · rename of Persia into Iran

1941–1946 · occupation by British and Soviet troops, resignation of Reza Pahlewi, enthronement of his son Mohammed Reza Pahlewi

1946 · joining to the Bagdad Pact (CENTO)

1963 · „White Revolution“ (modernization of the country, ground reform, women's suffrage)

1964 · Ayatollah Ruhollah Musawi Chomeini goes in exile

1971 · anniversary's ceremony - 2500 years Persian monarchy

1978–1979 · riots, the shah leaves Iran

1st of April in 1979 · proclamation of the Islamic Republic of Iran by Chomeini

27th of July in 1980 · death of the shah Mohammed Riza Pahlewi

1980–1988 · 1st Gulf War (Iran against Iraq)

3rd of June in 1989 · death of the Shiite leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Musawi Chomeini

since 2011 · Iran is taking part in the civil war in Syria

Source: Atlas zur Geschichte, Discovery '97, Wikipedia (DE)

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Origin of the Country's Name

The word "Iran" is very old and has long been used as the country's name, although it was only officially adopted in 1935 and became binding for European countries. The name goes back to the ancient Persian word "ariyan" (later "Eran"), which means "Land of the Aryans". Before 1935 the term "Persia" was used, actually a region in the south of the country, called Parsa or Fars, which means "Land of the Pure", and finally gave its name to the ethnicity living here and throughout Iran: "Persians". The north-west of Iran was known in the ancient world as "Media".

Source: Handbuch der geographischen Namen

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