Posted on 10/01/2004 10:19:23 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
BAGHDAD -- Iraq has launched a competition to search for a new flag and national anthem to distance the country from the legacy of Saddam Hussein.
The closing date for the competitions is Jan. 15, and a committee made up of the culture minister, artists, and intellectuals will select the winning submissions.
''The old flag is linked to the regime of Saddam Hussein," Culture Minister Mofeed al-Jazaeri said. ''A lot of people don't want to keep it."
Iraq's flag has undergone minor design changes since US-led forces toppled Hussein in 2003.
The phrase, ''God is Great," which first appeared on the flag in Hussein's handwriting after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, has been redesigned in a traditional Iraqi Kufic Arabic font.
But proposals to completely overhaul the flag have sparked controversy.
A predominantly blue-and-white design that appeared in Iraqi newspapers earlier this year sparked outrage in Arab media because the color scheme resembled that of the Israeli flag.
The red, green, black and white of Iraq's flag are found in most of the flags of other Arab countries.
''The design must be in harmony with the aspirations of the new democratic Iraq," Jazaeri said.
He said it also should reflect the unity of ethnic groups, cultures, and religions in Iraq, which is made up of Shi'ite and Sunni Arabs, Shi'ite and Sunni Kurds, Christian Assyrians, and Turkmens.
Most of those groups were oppressed by Hussein. Jazaeri said the new national anthem should symbolize tolerance and ethnic and intellectual diversity.
''The lyrics must be simple in form and acceptable in their ideas so that all Iraqis can repeat them, regardless of their ethnicity, politics, age, and career," the Culture Ministry said in the competition guidelines.
It also said the words should be in Arabic -- the native tongue of the majority in Iraq, where Kurdish, Syriac, and Turkic languages also are spoken.
A third contest will deliver a new national emblem to replace the standing falcon used under Hussein.
Another design contest... my feeling is new symbols will be adopted only after an elected government takes office next year.
Good post. Another sign of democracy in progress.
Well, I'm glad they are interested in defining a new era for themselves. Chances are it's going to be awhile before they settle on an anthem & flag. Our own didn't pop up over night either, and the flag has undergone revision.
At least it's unifying goal for the nation to focus on, no a bad idea at this point in time.
For a second there I thought this was a thread about Kerry's camp preparing for their first post-election move should they have won...
:D
The redesigned South Park city flag should suffice (multicultural mob hangs someone).
City flag consisted of a bunch of white stick figures hanging a black stick figure. Issue was resolved by revising the flag so that the stick figures conducting the hanging were comprised of different colors (diversity).
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