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Assyrian nation

Last modified: 2006-07-28 by joe mcmillan
Keywords: assyria | assyrian universal alliance | sun | river | euphrates | tigris | zawa | sargon | star: 4 points (blue) | stars: 3 (white) |

[Flag of AUA] image by Ivan Sache

Origin and usage of the flag

The flag was designed by the Assyrian Universal Alliance in 1968. All elements in the design come from symbols from Assyrian reliefs. As to the present usage, it is universally accepted by Assyrians and those non-Assyrians who recognize the Assyrian nation (most Arabs do not).

Peter BetBasoo, 30 August 1995

Description of the flag

The Assyrian flag consists of a golden circle at the center which represents the sun. By its exploding and leaping flames it generates heat and light to sustain the earth and all it's living things. The four pointed star surrounding the sun symbolizes the land, its light blue color means tranquility.
The wavy stripes extending from the center to the four corners of the flag are the three major rivers of our homeland, namely Tigris, Euphrates and Zawa. The dark blue represents Euphrates which stands for the Assyrian word Prat meaning Per-U-Ta = abundance. The red stripes represent Tigris, it's blood red hue stands for courage, glory and pride. The white lines in between the two great rivers is Zawa, it's white color stands tranquility and peace. Some interpret the red, white and blue stripes as the highways that will take the scattered Assyrians back to their ancestral homeland.
Above the blue star is the image of the Assyrian god Assur, who is guarding the country the flag and the nation it represents. On top of the flagstaff is the standard of King Sargon I, who established the first Assyrian empire. During the ancient times this insignia stood by the king's side to let everyone know his whereabouts.

Peter BetBasoo, 29 August 1995

Chronology of Assyrian flags


In 1918 Assyrians proclaimed an independent state (from Ottoman Empire). It seems they used a white(?) flag with a blue cross of unknown size.


The Assyrians adopted on 10 April 1968 their first emblem displaying the emblem of king Sargon.


In 1971, the Assyrian Congress in Teheran adopted a flag similar to the current one but with the Sargon emblem in black and without the blue four-pointed star.


In 1972, the flag was changed during the Geneva Congress: the flag was diagonally striped blue-white-red from upper hoist to lower fly, the white stripe being twice larger than the two other ones. In the middle of the flag was the same emblem as in the center of the current flag.


In 1973 in Yonkeers the flag was reversed to the 1971 design, but with the blue fourpointed star and the Sargon emblem in red.
Flaggenmitteilung [fml] #93 reports a variant with a dark yellow star and a central disk blue with a white border.

Jaume Ollé, 26 December 1999

Assyrian American Federation

Assyrian American Federation image by Ivan Sache

"This flag was in use by the Assyrian American Federation prior to 1975 when it dropped for the current Assyrian flag. The three stars represented the Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syriac names of our nation."

Flag of the Muslim Assyrian minority

Dubious Assyrian flag image by Ivan Sache

Smith [smi75c] reports a flag for the Assyrians, but does note give any reference about its orign.
The flag is vertically divided purple-yellow-green, with white crescent and star in the upper hoist, pointing towards lower fly.

Jaume Ollé, 26 December 1999

The book: Nations Without States: A Historical Dictionary of Contemporary National Movements. by James Minahan (1996, Greenwood Press) covers Assyria on pages 247-248. It says:
'A small minority of the Assyrians, around 1%, has converted to Islam, but remains Assyrian in culture and language...The flag of the Muslim Assyrian minority is a vertical tricolor of violet, yellow and green, bearing a white crescent moon and five-pointed star on the upper hoist."

Ned Smith, 12 February 2001

Unidentified Assyrian flag

Flag Report presented recently another Assyrian flag, yellow with Sargon emblem in gold and red in the center. It seems to be the Assyrian flag used in the de facto independent Kurdistan (as shown in the Kurdish TV) and perhaps also in Iraq if permitted.