Abeer Mohammed and Solomon Moor, correspondents for the New York Times, stated in a Jan. 23, 2008 article titled "Iraq Parliament Purges Hussein Vestiges on Flag":
"Iraqi lawmakers adopted a modified version of the national flag on Tuesday [Jan. 22, 2008], removing three stars that symbolized the Baathist ideals of unity, freedom and socialism, and Saddam Hussein’s handwritten calligraphy of the Koranic incantation 'Allahu akbar.'
The new Iraqi flag, top, and the design used since Saddam Hussein's ouster. The new Iraqi flag will no longer include calligraphy based on Saddam Hussein's handwriting or stars representing three Baathist ideals.
The incantation, which means God is great, will remain on the flag, though it will now be written in a different calligraphic style.
Members of Parliament voted 110 to 50 for the flag, which was introduced in 2004 and bears the red, white and black stripes of Iraq’s original banner. The design preserves a sense of continuous national identity, while purging the flag of Baathist allusions, supporters say...
The flag is the second design to be introduced in Iraq since the American-led invasion in 2003. In 2004, the American-appointed Iraqi Governing Council announced a white, blue and yellow flag with a prominent Islamic crescent. That design was scrapped after Iraqis criticized it for being too radical a change from the original, and too similar to the blue and white flag of Israel.
Iraqi politicians then kept the old design, including the three stars, but replaced Mr. Hussein’s writing with an angular pre-Islamic script that originated in Kufa, a city in southern Iraq."
Jan. 23, 2008 Abeer Mohammed and Solomon Moore
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