Lion and Sun flag

Lion and Sun emblem

The emblem consists of a male lion in front of a rising sun, coloured in gold and centred on the white band. Its appearance has varied over time: in some versions, the lion holds a sword, while in others it stands unarmed, with all four paws on the ground. The sun is nowadays depicted as a simple disc with rays, though earlier designs often included a face. Some versions include a thin horizontal base beneath the lion. A crown was sometimes displayed above the emblem on the national flag, while the war flag and naval ensign additionally featured a surrounding wreath.^[5]

Colour scheme

Pre-Islamic origins

The Lion and Sun is an emblem that is intrinsically Iranian and can be traced back thousands of years, even predating the Achaemenid era.^[6][7]

During the Achaemenid period, the Lion and Sun motif appeared in several forms.^[7][8] One such example is a seal depicting Artaxerxes II accompanied by Anahita, with the latter riding a lion with a sun symbolising Mithra appearing behind her.^[9]

Safavid and Qajar era

The emblem continued to appear intermittently throughout the centuries until the emblem was adopted during the Safavid era to distinguish the country's national identity from neighbouring powers, such as the Ottoman Empire with the star and crescent.^[10]

The Lion and Sun only became a national symbol during the Qajar era. One of the first appearances of the lion holding a sword on a flag was during the Russo-Persian War (1804–1813); the sword was added at the recommendation of Molla Ahmad Naraqi.^{[citation needed]}

The first instance of the emblem appearing on a tricolour flag is thought to be on an early green–white–red design with thin green and red stripes, designed by Amir Kabir and used from 1848 to 1852 during the reign of Naser al-Din Shah Qajar. The first equal-height stripe design is said to have appeared by the late 1880s. These accounts are poorly documented and may be entirely unfounded as they are far less certain than the flag officially adopted in 1907.^[11]

Late Qajar and Pahlavi era

Illustration of a historic meeting between Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and Reza Shah in 1934, with the contemporary Iranian flag

Numerous Lion and Sun flags hoisted at Pasargadae during the 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire, 1971

The first official version of the Lion and Sun flag was adopted in the wake of the Iranian Constitutional Revolution of 1906^[2] and codified in the Supplementary Fundamental Laws of 7 October 1907 as the state flag of the country. The new banner was described as a tricolour of "green, white, and red, with the emblem of the Lion and the Sun."^[12] On 4 September 1910, a decree specified the exact details of the emblem, including the size and position of the lion, and the shape of its tail, sword, and sun.^[13] During this period, the colours of the flag were very pale, with the red appearing closer to pink in practice.

Following Reza Shah's coup d'état and through the Pahlavi era, the flag underwent several gradual changes. In 1933, the colours of the flag were darkened, and the sun was stripped of its facial features. In 1964, the flag's proportions were altered from 1:3 to 4:7.^{[citation needed]} In 1972, the government introduced a new flag using a standardised design for the Lion and Sun emblem,^{[14][failed verification]} though it is not clear if it replaced all pre-existing designs, as the style of the emblem continued to vary depending on the manufacturer.

Post-Islamic revolution

Following the overthrow of the monarchy in 1979 at the onset of the Islamic Revolution, the interim government began phasing out the Lion and Sun in favour of the plain tricolour. However, after the Islamic takeover in 1980, the new government outlawed the use of the old flag entirely, justifying the restrictions by claiming that the banner was a symbol of the "oppressive Westernising monarchy," despite the emblem's traditional Shia usage.^[15][16] In 1980, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini demanded the "ominous" Lion and Sun be removed from all government offices as an "artefact of the tyrannical regime".^[17]

• Design evolution over time
• 
  Supposed tricolour designed by Amir Kabir between 1848 and 1852, modern reconstruction^[11]
• 
  Supposed equal-stripe tricolour reported in 1886, modern reconstruction^[11]
• 
  State flag of Persia (1907–1933), modern reconstruction^[18]
• 
  State flag of Iran (1933–1964), modern reconstruction^[19]
• 
  Historical version using the former standardised Lion and Sun emblem (1972–1980)^[20]
• 
  Standardised modern version used from 2012 onwards

Use in protests

Protestor tears down the Islamic Republic flag at its embassy in London and holds up the Lion and Sun flag, 10 January 2026

A massive Lion and Sun flag being raised in Munich as part of the Global day of action for the Iranian people, organised by Reza Pahlavi on 14 February 2026.

Fans with the Lion and Sun flag prior to the Iran vs. Belgium 2026 FIFA World Cup match at SoFi Stadium.

The flag is regularly seen at international rallies across North America and Europe, where members of the Iranian diaspora wave it to show solidarity with protest movements in Iran.^[23] It has been particularly prominent during demonstrations in major Western cities such as London, Berlin,^[24] Paris, Munich, Toronto, and Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]} It has become a core emblem of the anti-regime protest movement.

Other opposition flags

• White-red-white flag, former flag of Belarus and Belarusian opposition symbol
• White-blue-white flag, Russian anti-war and opposition symbol
• Flag of South Vietnam, often used by Vietnamese diaspora
• Flag of Venezuela pre-2006, used by the Venezuelan opposition and diaspora
• Flag of the Second Spanish Republic, former flag of Spain and Spanish republican symbol