Flag of Afghanistan

What the flag means

The usual explanation of the colours is that black stands for the 19th century, when Afghanistan was a protected state, red for the blood shed to win independence in 1919, and green for hope and prosperity. The year 1298 in the emblem is 1919 in the Solar Hijri calendar. The Taliban say the white of their own flag stands for the purity of their faith and government.

History

Black, red and green were first used together in 1928 under King Amanullah Khan, after his tour of Europe. Many later flags kept these colours with different emblems, and the 2004 constitution set the version shown here. After the Taliban took Kabul on 15 August 2021, their government replaced it with a white flag bearing the black Shahada, the design they had adopted in 1997. A Taliban decree of 20 March 2022 requires government agencies to use the white flag. The United Nations and many Afghan embassies still fly the tricolour.

The Taliban's first flag, used in 1996 and 1997, was plain white. It and a former flag of Libya are the only national flags of a single colour with no design.

Earlier flags of Afghanistan

1. 1931–1973Black, red and green tricolour with a mosque framed by wheat
2. 1978–1980Red with a yellow emblem and star of the Khalq faction
3. 1980–1987Tricolour restored, with a rising sun, red star and cogwheel in the emblem
4. 1997–2001White with the black Shahada, used by the Taliban

Flags of Afghanistan's neighbours

• Iran
• Pakistan
• Turkmenistan
• Uzbekistan
• Tajikistan
• China