History of the Afghan Flag (1747-Present)

The Coup of 1973. In 1973, Mohammed Zahir Shah's 40 year rule over Afghanistan was put to an abrupt stop by his cousin, Mohammed Daoud Khan, who overthrew him in a coup and declared himself president. Saur Revolution. Daoud Khan and his family were killed in 1978 by the Soviet-backed PDPA. They installed their leader, Nur Muhammad Taraki, who was thought to better reflect the party's communist values.

Soviet-Afghan War. With a weak and unstable government, Afghanistan was invaded by the 80,000 Soviet troops on Christmas Eve of 1979. Tribal warlords were pushed out of the cities and the Mujahideen was soon created in an effort to combat the invasion. The United States found this a good opportunity to combat the spread of communism so they began funneling weapons through Pakistan to aid the Mujahideen.

Under the command of Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Mujahideen and other freedom fighters fought Soviet troops using guerilla warfare techinques. Despite the USSR having a clear advantage, the Mujahideen prevailed and successfully drove off Soviet troops. Ussr Withdraws. By 1988, the Geneva Accords were signed and the USSR agreed to withdraw all their troops from Afghanistan without further intervention. By February 15, 1989, the last of the Soviet army withdrew.

Effects of the Soviet-Afghan War. 2,000,000 Civilian Deaths. 5-10 Million Fled Afghanistan. 2 Million Afghans Internally Displaced

The Fight for power. The Soviet Union continued to aid Afghanistan's government and support Mohammad Najibullah's presidency until 1991. Once support ended, the Mujahideen sucessfully captured Kabul in 1992. Disagreements between how Afghanistan was to be governed ensued and war broke out mostly between Massoud's alliance and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Pakistani-backed army.

Transcript: History of the Afghan Flag
In this post, we created a guide to teach you about the history of the Afghan Flag and its various designs throughout the years.

1747–1842:
Flag under Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of modern Afghanistan.

1880–1901:
Flag flown under the rule of Abdul Rahman Khan.

1901-1919:
Emirate of Afghanistan under Habibullah Khan. Son of Abdur Rahman Khan.

1919-1929:
Kingdom and Emirate of Afghanistan under King Amanullah Khan. He had 3 more flags during his time.

1929:
Kingdom of Afghanistan under Habibullah Kalakani.

1929-1930:
Kingdom of Afghanistan under Mohammed Nadir Shah, Father of Zahir Shah.

1930-1973:
Kingdom of Afghanistan under Mohammad Zahir Shah. Grew diplomatic relations with countries, even during the Cold War.

1973-1978:
Republic of Afghanistan under Mohammad Daoud Khan, the 5th prime minister.

1978-1980:
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan under Nur Muhammad Turaki and Hafizullah Amin.

1980-1987:
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan under Babrak Karmal, who was installed by the Soviet Union.

1987-1992:
Republic of Afghanistan under Najibullah Ahmadzai, who was assassinated by the Taliban.

1992:
Used by the Mujahideen for a short time after the fall of Najibullah’s Government.

1992-2001:
The new Islamic government under Rabbani featured a flag change with a color scheme similar to Middle Eastern nations’ Flags.

2002-2004:
Transitional Administration under Hamid Karzai.

2013-Present:
Current flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Design Explained:
The black symbolizes the dark, troubled past of the nation. The green represents both Islam and prosperity, while the red represents the blood shed by those who fought for the country’s independence.

The national emblem of Afghanistan shown in the center of the flag, has a scripture of the shahada which is one of the 5 pillars of Islam declaring the belief in God alone, and Prophet Muhammad as his messenger.

Right underneath, it contains the symbol of a mihrab which is found in mosques, pointing towards the direction of the Kaaba (qibla) for prayer.

And the date at the bottom, 1919, is the year Afghanistan gained independence from Great Britain.

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Blog post by @ali.adventure