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Tajikistan
Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....
was the last of the former Soviet republics to reveal a new flag , which was adopted in November 1992. The one common link between this and the 1953 SSR flag is the choice of colors - red, white and green. The former Tajik SSR
Tajik SSR
The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic , also known as the Tajik SSR for short, was one of the 15 republics that made up the Soviet Union. Located in Central Asia, the Tajik SSR was created on 5 December 1929 as a national entity for the Tajik people within the Soviet Union...
, sometimes referred to as the "Tadzhik SSR" , added white and green stripes to the flag of the USSR. The striping also emphasizes Tajikistan's Persian culture, as Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
's flag has the same stripes (although red and green are reversed).
The crown
Crown (headgear)
A crown is the traditional symbolic form of headgear worn by a monarch or by a deity, for whom the crown traditionally represents power, legitimacy, immortality, righteousness, victory, triumph, resurrection, honour and glory of life after death. In art, the crown may be shown being offered to...
represents the Tajik people, the name itself arguably is derived from tajvar, which means "crowned". In traditional Tajik cultural aspects the number "seven" is a symbol of perfection, the embodiment of happiness and the provider of virtue. According to Tajik legend
Legend
A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...
, Islamic heaven is composed of seven beautiful orchids, separated by seven mountains each with a glowing star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
on top. The middle white stripe is one-and-a-half times the size of the red and green stripes. The red represents the unity of the nation and the symbol of the sun and victory; the white represents purity, cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
, the snow on the mountains and the unity of the people; and green stands for the spiritual meaning of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and represents the generosity of nature of the country. The symbol charged in the middle of the white stripe is a crown surmounted by an arc of seven stars.
See also
- Pan-Iranian colorsPan-Iranian colorsThe Pan-Iranian colors, green, white and red, are colors used on the flags of some countries and autonomous provinces inhabited by Iranian peoples...
- Flag of the Tajik SSR
- Flag of IranFlag of IranThe current flag of Iran was adopted on 29 July 1980, and is a reflection of the changes brought about by the Iranian Revolution. Its field is a tricolour comprising equal horizontal bands of green, white, and red...
- Flag of Kurdistan
- Talysh-Mughan Autonomous RepublicTalysh-Mughan Autonomous RepublicThe Talysh-Mughan Autonomous Republic was a short-lived self-proclaimed autonomous republic in Azerbaijan, that lasted from June to August 1993. It was located in extreme southeastern Azerbaijan, envisaging to consist in the 7 administrative districts of Azerbaijan around the regional capital city...
- Coat of arms of TajikistanCoat of arms of TajikistanThe State Emblem of Tajikistan is a modified version of the original coat of arms of the Tajik SSR that was in use until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991...
- Coat of arms of IranCoat of arms of IranThe emblem of Iran since the 1979 Iranian Revolution features a stylized Perso-Arabic script of the arabic word Allah ....
- Imperial Standards of IranImperial Standards of IranThe Imperial Standards of Iran were the personal official flags of the Shāhanshāh, Šahbānū and Crown Prince of Iran, adopted at the beginning of 1971....
- The Lion and SunThe Lion and SunThe Lion and Sun is one of the emblems of Iran, and between 1846 and 1979 was an element in Iran's national flag. The motif, which illustrates ancient and modern Iranian traditions, became a popular symbol in Iran in the 12th century The lion and sun symbol is based largely on astronomical and...