Timeline
Timeline of the flag
Every documented moment in the flag’s life, in order, each with its certainty level and sources. Filter by certainty to see how solid the record really is.
- 1917-1918 documented
The Society for the Advancement of Kurdistan is founded in Istanbul
Founded secretly on 6 November 1917 and publicly on 17 December 1918, this circle of Kurdish intellectuals became the milieu in which the flag design emerged.
Sources: Medya News · KurdShop
- 1919 documented
The Kurdish memorandum reaches the Paris Peace Conference; no flag is documented
The delegation submitted its memorandum on 6 February 1919 together with a map of Kurdistan. The often-repeated story that the flag was presented in Paris is not supported by any archival evidence found so far.
Sources: Academia.edu · Nationalities Papers / Cambridge UP
- 1919-1925 probable
Crescent flags fly in Başûr: the 1919 revolt and the Kingdom of Kurdistan in Silêmanî
Before the sun tricolour became dominant, other Kurdish flags circulated, including a crescent flag used by the Kingdom of Kurdistan (1921-1924). Images of these flags are later reconstructions.
Sources: Wikipedia (Rafiq Hilmi; MacArthur-Seal 2022; Kilic 2018) · kurdish-history.com Kingdom of Kurdistan
- 1920 probable
The tricolour with the sun is first arranged in Istanbul
A letter of 21 January 1928 from Memduh Selîm to Îhsan Nûrî Paşa, uncovered by historian Sadat Ulugana, contains a drawing of the flag and states it was first arranged in Istanbul in 1920. It is the earliest primary document known for the design.
Sources: Medya News · Kovara Bîr
- 1927 documented
Xoybûn adopts the flag; it flies over the Ararat rebellion
Founded on 5 October 1927 in Bhamdoun, Xoybûn made the tricolour with the sun the Kurdish national flag and used it during the Ararat rebellion (1927-1930).
Sources: Medya News · Wikipedia
- 1928 documented
The Memduh Selîm letter: the oldest known primary document of the flag
The 21 January 1928 letter demands the unconditional acceptance of the flag by the Ararat resistance committee and includes a drawing.
Sources: Medya News
- 1930 probable
Newspapers document the 'Flag of the Xoybûn Association'
In August 1930, during the Ararat rebellion, contemporary newspapers described and depicted the flag, an early external confirmation of its use.
Sources: KurdShop
- 1945 oral tradition
17 December 1945: the flag is raised in Mahabad, the event Flag Day commemorates
According to the dominant account, the flag was first officially raised in Mahabad on 17 December 1945, weeks before the republic was proclaimed. A variant telling links 17 December to the lowering of the flag at the republic's fall a year later; no contemporary 1945 document has been found.
Sources: Shafaq News · Channel8 · saradistribution.com
- 1946 documented
The Republic of Kurdistan at Mahabad flies the flag
Proclaimed on 22 January 1946 by Qazî Mihemed on Çarçira Square while Ey Reqîb was sung, the republic flew a tricolour whose emblem differed from today's: a sun flanked by ears of wheat and a pen. The republic fell in mid-December 1946.
Sources: Kurdistan24 · Wikipedia · FOTW
- 1959-1963 documented
A state flag carries a yellow sun for the Kurds
From 14 July 1959 to 1963, the state flag of the republic governed from Baghdad contained a yellow sun that explicitly represented the Kurds, an early state-level recognition of the sun as a Kurdish symbol.
Sources: Encyclopaedia Britannica · FOTW 1959-1963
- 1992 probable
The Kurdistan Region takes shape; the flag enters de facto official use
With the establishment of the Kurdistan Region's institutions in 1992, the flag came into de facto official use, before formal standardization in 1999. No formal 1992 instrument has been located.
Sources: The Kurdish Project · Kovara Bîr
- 1998-1999 documented
The design is standardized: 21 rays, fixed ratios and colors
Historian Mehrdad R. Izady, with Bijhan Eliasi and collaborators and in consultation with The Flag Institute, specified the modern design: a 2:3 tricolour with a golden sun of exactly 21 equal rays, one ray pointing straight up.
Sources: Rudaw-interview Izady · KURDISTANICA
- 1999 documented
11 November 1999: the parliament passes the flag law
The Kurdistan National Assembly gave the flag its official, standardized legal status. The law is commonly cited as Law No. 14 of 1999; the number is reported inconsistently across sources, the date is not.
Sources: KurdShop · KURDISTANICA · Kurdistan24
- 2006 documented
The flag replaces the old state flag on public buildings in the Kurdistan Region
On 1 September 2006 the Kurdistan flag was ordered onto government buildings in the Region, replacing the previous-era state flag and triggering a national debate.
Sources: Al Jazeera · NPR
- 2009 probable
Decision No. 48 makes 17 December Kurdistan Flag Day
By Decision No. 48 of 19 June, most sources say 2009, the parliament designated 17 December of each year as Flag Day, commemorating Mahabad. One outlet reports 2004; the decision text itself has not been retrieved.
Sources: Kurdistan24 · 964media Flag Day · Shafaq News
- 2012 documented
The flag lifts a world cup: Kurdistan wins the VIVA World Cup in Hewlêr
On 9 June 2012 the Kurdistan Region team, today a CONIFA member, won the VIVA World Cup on home soil in Hewlêr, beating Northern Cyprus 2-1 in the final under the flag.
Sources: CONIFA Kurdistan FA · Hurriyet Daily News
- 2017 documented
The Kerkûk flag crisis and the referendum year
In March 2017 the Kerkûk provincial council voted to raise the flag over public buildings; the federal parliament voted for removal on 1 April, the governor refused, and during the 25 September independence referendum the flag was everywhere.
Sources: Al Jazeera 01-04-2017 · The New Arab
Sources for this page
- Mahabad Republic · FOTW
- Ala Kurdistanê (Flag of Kurdistan) · Kovara Bîr · 2021
- Republic of Mahabad · Wikipedia
- Kurdistan Flag Day: A symbol of identity, resistance, hope · Kurdistan24 · 2024
- The Unfinished Dream: Remembering The Republic of Kurdistan in Mahabad, 80 Years On · Kurdistan24 · 2026
- Flag of Kurdistan · KURDISTANICA · archive
- The History of the Kurdistan Flag · KurdShop
- Sadat Ulugana on the history of the Kurdish flag · Medya News
Last reviewed: 2026-08-05