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Symbols & Identity

Symbols & Identity

The flag, the 21-rayed sun, ornament and pattern.

The Kurdish flag

The Kurdish flag

Three horizontal bands — red for the blood of the martyrs, white for peace and equality, green for the land — and the 21-rayed sun at the centre that ties them together.

The 21-rayed sun

The 21-rayed sun

Twenty-one rays, drawn from Yazdani cosmology and from Newroz mythology. Twenty-one is itself sacred — three times seven — and the sun is, for the Kurds, both the source of life and the symbol of return.

Geometry of the kilim

Geometry of the kilim

Diamonds, hooks, serrated edges, eyes — the kilim is a written language of geometry. Each motif carries meaning: protection, fertility, the mountain, the eye of God.