Iranian Empire (Qajar dynasty, 1905-1925)

Last modified: 2011-06-10 by ian macdonald
Keywords: qajar | lion (yellow) | state ensign | civil ensign | naval ensign | sword (yellow) | sun (yellow) | crown: imperial | imperial standard |
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image by Željko Heimer

• National flag
• Imperial standard
  • 1907 version
  • 1910 version
• Civil ensign
  • 1907 version
  • 1910 version
• Naval ensign
  • 1907 version
  • 1910 version
• State ensign

See also:

• Iran
• Iran: Historical flags
• Iranian Empire (Pahlavi dynasty, 1925-1964)

National flag

The horizontal tricolor was officially adopted on 5 August 1906, with proportion 1:3, after a Constitution was forced on Shah Muzaffar al-Din (14 August 1905).
Harald Müller & Jaume Ollé, 14 May 1996 - 10 November 1999

Colours used in the Persian tricolour are expressly described as very pale.
Source: National Geographic (1917) [gmc17]
Željko Heimer, 25 November 2001

It can be hypothetised that the 1907 flags shown below in fact predated the 1906 Constitutional changes.
Ivan Sache, 30 June 2002

About the symbol on the former Iranian flag, the Lion, sword and sunrise, I would like to point out that it is a far older symbol than the Qajar dynasty. The "Epic of the Kings," written in the 1100's about the centuries before the conquest of Islam, refers to the Iranian army or king as marching under a banner with "The lion and the sunrise." The sword was added in the 1800's to make it more Islamic. The Lion was the symbol of pre-Islamic Iran (Persia) along with the cypress tree, though I've never seen the two used together.
Robert Wilson, 26 December 2002

Imperial standard

1907 version

White flag with a red and green border with golden lion, sun and crown in the center.
Source: British Admiralty Flagbook (1907) [hms07]
Jaume Ollé, 10 November 1999

1910 version

image by Željko Heimer

Blue square flag with national tricolour in canton and white disk in the middle containing the crowned lion and sun withing a wreath. The crown at the time must still have been the Qajar crown but due to the size of the emblem in the source it is hard to be sure. The emblem seems multicoloured, but I took some liberties in depicting it.

Sources:

• British Admiralty Flagbook (1910) [hms10]
• National Geographic (1917) [gmc17]

Željko Heimer & Jaume Ollé, 10 November 1999 - 25 November 2001

Civil ensign

1907 version

image by Avelledo Coll

White flag with a red and green border.
Source: British Admiralty Flagbook (1907) [hms07]
Jaume Ollé, 10 November 1999

This civil ensign is also depicted on one of the trading cards manufactured by the American Tobacco Company circa 1910.
Al Fisher Jr., 14 July 1997

1910 version

The national flag was also used as civil ensign.

Sources:

• British Admiralty Flagbook (1910) [hms10]
• National Geographic (1917) [gmc17]

Željko Heimer & Jaume Ollé, 10 November 1999 - 25 November 2001

Naval ensign

1907 version

image by Avelledo Coll

White flag with a red and green border with golden lion and sun in the center.
Source: British Admiralty Flagbook (1907) [hms07]
Jaume Ollé, 10 November 1999

1910 version

image by Željko Heimer

Tricolour with the emblem. The ratio as shown in the source [gmc17] is about 6:11~ (close to 1:2), but I think that 1:3 was already the usual ratio, so I depicted the flag with the latter one.

Sources:

• British Admiralty Flagbook (1910) [hms10]
• National Geographic (1917) [gmc17]

Željko Heimer & Jaume Ollé, 10 November 1999 - 25 November 2001

State ensign

image by Željko Heimer

Tricolour with lion and sun.

Sources:

• British Admiralty Flagbook (1910) [hms10]
• National Geographic (1917) [gmc17]

Željko Heimer & Jaume Ollé, 10 November 1999 - 25 November 2001