Kurdish Flag Day is officially celebrated in Iraqi Kurdistan (an autonomous region of Iraq populated by Kurds) on December 17 each year. It was established by the parliament of Iraqi Kurdistan in 1999.
The Kurds (Kurdish people) are an ethnic group in the Middle East. They mostly inhabit a contiguous area they regard as Greater Kurdistan. It spans adjacent parts of southeastern Turkey, northeastern Iran, northern Iraq, and northern Syria. Iraqi Kurdistan (Southern Kurdistan) gained de facto autonomy in 1991. In 2017, there was an independence referendum for Iraqi Kurdistan but its results were not recognized by the Iraqi government.
The flag of Kurdistan, also known as the Kurdish flag, symbolizes the Kurds’ desire for independence. It first appeared in the 1920s and was adopted as the official flag of Iraqi Kurdistan in 1992. It consists of three horizontal stripes: red (symbolizes the blood of the Kurdish martyrs), green (symbolizes the landscapes of Kurdistan) and white (symbolizes equality and peace).
The main feature of the Kurdish flag is the golden sun emblem with 21 identical rays located in the middle of the flag. 21 is a venerated number in the pre-Islamic, native religion of the Kurds named Yazdanism. It also symbolizes Nowruz, the New Year holiday celebrated by Iranian and Kurdish peoples on March 21.
