Khurmatu Mayor Bars Kurdistan Flag From Schools

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The mayor of Khurmatu said Sunday that schools and other institutions under federal authority are permitted to raise only the Iraqi flag, ruling out the display of the Kurdistan flag and other flags at those institutions.

Zulfiqar Haider, mayor of Khurmatu and himself a Turkmen, told Kurdistan24 on Oct. 4 that authorities had received instructions requiring institutions to display only Iraq's national flag.

He said Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen in the area all operate under the authority of the Iraqi government and should therefore gather under the same national symbol.

"We have nearly 50 flags, so no flag other than the Iraqi flag should be raised," Haider said. "Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen should all unite under that flag."

His remarks came on the same day Kurdish-language schools in Kirkuk marked the beginning of the 2026–2027 academic year by raising the Kurdistan flag.

More than 104,000 students returned to 562 Kurdish schools and kindergartens in Kirkuk on Sunday, supported by around 8,200 teachers and administrative staff.

Kurdistan24 previously reported that the Kurdistan Regional Government had provided 1.2 million textbooks and other educational requirements for the new school year.

Kamaran Ali, Director of Kurdish Education in Kirkuk, told Kurdistan24 correspondent Hemn Delo that preparations had been completed and that schools were ready to receive students.

The KRG also pledged 1,000 student desks and 500 whiteboards as part of its support for Kurdish-language schools.

The contrasting practices in Khurmatu and Kirkuk draw attention to a wider and long-running question over the use of the Kurdistan flag outside institutions directly administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government.

The Iraqi Constitution formally recognizes the Kurdistan Region and its existing authorities as a federal region.

Article 117 states that the Constitution, upon entering into force, recognizes "the region of Kurdistan, along with its existing authorities, as a federal region."

The federal Constitution, however, defers the recognition and legality of the Kurdistan Region's flag, anthem or emblem to the Region's legal apparatuses. This means that such regional symbols are instead regulated through legislation and decisions of the Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdistan flag is formally recognized under the Region's own legal framework, including measures adopted by the Kurdistan Parliament and the designation of Kurdistan Flag Day.

The question of where the flag may be displayed outside official KRG institutions has nevertheless been the subject of differing legal and political interpretations, especially following the events of Oct. 16, 2017.

Federal and regional authorities have previously disagreed over the scope of its use in areas such as Kirkuk, where questions involving administrative authority, identity and official symbols have often intersected.

Sunday's developments again illustrated those differing approaches.

In Kirkuk, Kurdish-language schools opened the academic year with the Kurdistan flag displayed as part of the start-of-school ceremonies.

In Khurmatu, Haider said institutions had instead been instructed to restrict official flag displays to the Iraqi flag.

The mayor did not indicate whether the instruction he referred to applied specifically to schools, to all government institutions in Khurmatu, or whether a separate federal directive addressing the Kurdistan flag was issued.

The issue therefore places two principles alongside one another, the federal government's authority over institutions under its administration and the constitutional recognition of the Kurdistan Region as a federal entity with its own institutions and symbols.

For schools in Kirkuk and Khurmatu, those questions became visible on the first day of the new academic year, as students returned to classrooms under differing approaches to which flag should be raised above them.