Saturday, 01 May 2004 CDT
The Iraqi Governing Council, appointed by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), this past week announced the new Iraq national flag. Forcing a new flag on the country before a legitimate government chosen by the Iraqi people exists seems like misguided priorities. Or maybe the IGC lacks power to do anything meaningful and this is an exercise in seeming relevant.
Not satisfied with the questionable act of trying to force a new symbol of national identity on the people of Iraq, the IGC has chosen to do so in the most offensive way possible. The new flag eschews the traditional colors of Arab countries (green, red, black) and replaced them with white and blue, reminiscent of Israel's flag. Not surprisingly, this flag is not being embraced by Iraqis. It also is a disaster from purely a design standpoint, lacking any sense of style.
New flag from the Iraqi Governing Council
Old Iraqi flag (left) and Israeli flag
Compared to the other Middle East flags the new Iraq flag seems very unusual.
