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Question about this Iranian flag…

r/vexillology - Question about this Iranian flag…

I was given this flag a few months ago as a gift. the person has no connection to Iran as far as I know; they just knew that I collect flags.

Can anyone tell me about this particular design? I’ve never seen one quite like this with this art style.

I like to fly a different flag each day in front of my house, usually on the country’s major holidays and whatnot. I have a few that I never fly because they’d be pretty controversial. Given recent events, I‘m pretty sure this one ought to stay in storage. However…

Suppose I were to hoist this Iranian flag in my semi-rural American neighborhood. What conclusions are passersby likely to draw? How do Iranians feel about this flag? I‘m sharp enough to know that it’d be controversial, but I don’t know enough about Iran to know in what way(s).


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Looks like an alternate version of. The shades above and below look Pahlavi dynasty, but the lion and sun look Qajar (dynasty that ended in the 1930s)

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Council_of_Resistance_of_Iran

"It is the longest active political alliance in Iranian history."

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This is the msot similar one, yet the sun rendition is different.

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This is close to the MEK flag. A marxist-Islamist terrorist group operating in Albania. They have pretty little to no support among Iranians.

The actual Lion and Sun design is different.

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Here's a vintage period example that I own for comparison

Even when it was standardized in the 70s, most flag companies didn't bother by doing details like the ground the lion stands on

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Why is this so fucking funny to me? LMAO

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The actual Lion and Sun design is different.

Can we please stop pretending that there's an "actual" Lion and Sun design. Sure, different groups might tend to use one design more than others, but the general rule for flags throughout history is that these sorts of details vary greatly, and any meaningful associations between particular variations and particular political stances come after the variations themselves and are very easily overstated.

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Looks similar to mek logo but it’s definitely not theirs. Their (mek) sun has a continuous ray while other ones have distinct individual rays of the sun like the one above.

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Oh wow. Forgive my ignorant eyes— are there markers that indicate the different lions? 

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This one is the most commonly used flag.

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the ones you see normally use more cartoonish, 2D lion drawings. the MEK flag has a lion that looks like a sort of metallic texture, like if you were to press a metal page into the shape of a lion and put a picture of it on the middle of the flag.

this image doesnt include all flag versions but its the best i could find:

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the two images on the bottom are two of the historically used symbols by the pahlavis in iran, the design thats used more commonly these days was shared by another commentor here. the two metallic looking designs are for the MEK. the one thats very detailed but also clearly 2D doesnt have any bad associations, its just not a real flag and was drawn by some random guy one day but then widely used because since it was a new drawing the image file had a really large size, making it ideal for printing onto different things.

something else important, there are also variations woth wreaths or a crown around the lion. they are mostly used to show political beliefs nowdays, usually for wanting monarchism for the country specifically and not wanting another leader aside from reza pahlavi. thats not the literal meaning and shouldnt be assumed to be the case with everyone who uses such flag, but also important to know !

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The whole art style is different. The lion looks more cartoonish and the sun less transparent

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    Okay, I obviously could read a wikipedia entry. I’m looking for a more human response from a person with opinions on the subject. 

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    Apologies for trying to help

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    This is THE Iranian flag! If anything, flying this flag will show your solidarity with the people of Iran. It’s the pre Islamic republic flag, so many Iranians who have been victims of the regime look at this flag as the real flag

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    I see. Would you say that most Iranian Americans feel this way?

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    Yeah I’d say so. Idk if there are any statistics in that though

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    This is the MEK (Mojahadeen-e Khalq) flag. If there's anything that unites Iranians, both pro-regime and opposition alike, it's that they hate the MEK - they supported Saddam during the Iraq war

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    🤡

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    short answer: persia

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    let's just say, the iranians really like this flag

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    Like, the lion and sun generally, or this particular rendering of it? I ask because I don’t think I’ve seen this depiction before; most seem to be flat golden color with sharp outlines. 

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    generally the lion and sun flag

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    This flag was iran's flag for a long time, likely first introduced in the 15th century, the symbols on the flag unlike what the monarch supporters think are both Iranian and Islamic symbols. These days this flag is used by the opposition of Iran. So flying it makes you support what has been happening to Iranians (war, coup, harshest sanctions on the people of a country of 95 million).

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