PHOTOS: Schools mark Kurdistan Flag Day
Students and school administrators raise the Kurdistan flag and sing the national anthem at schools across the region on this day.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Schools across the Kurdistan Region on Thursday are marking the Kurdistan Flag Day, when students, public employees, and citizens celebrate by wearing traditional outfits and raising the nation's flag.
On the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) calendar, the national day is celebrated on Dec. 17 every year. However, because Dec. 17 is a Friday this year, the educational institutions and public offices decided to mark it one day earlier.
Students and school administrators raise the Kurdistan flag and sing the national anthem at schools across the region on this day.
Students can also wear traditional Kurdish clothes instead of mandatory school uniforms on Kurdistan Flag Day.
The Kurdistan Parliament in 2004 voted to designate the date as an annual commemoration to "enshrine appreciation, adherence and love" for the Kurdistan flag.
The flag is red, yellow, white, and green and has a 21-ray sun in the center. Red represents the blood of martyrs for Kurdistan. Green represents Kurdistan's nature and white stands for peace.
