Sister of fallen Peshmerga sews hometown's largest Kurdistan flag
In the center of Sirye, a small town east of Duhok province, a new Kurdistan flag waves in the wind, now the biggest in the area.
Zakia Mohammed has lost three brothers who were part of the Kurdistan Region's Peshmerga forces fighting on the frontlines. A tailor, she has spent the past few months making a Kurdistan Flag for Sirye.
Her efforts bore fruit in early 2022, finally hoisting the colorful flag with fellow residents in the small community located in Duhok's Shiladize area in the Amedi district.
Mohammed told Kurdistan 24 that it took her two months to finish the flag, from finding a suitable fabric to the design and sewing. The flag is six meters long and three meters wide.
Locals recently held a small ceremony to observe raising the flag, with members of the Peshmerga forces in attendance.
Mohammed, locally known as the Sister of the Three Fallen Peshmerga, described the Kurdistan flag as "a precious symbol of the Peshmerga forces' sacrifices." She added that the Kurdish flag must be "protected" and its importance as a national symbol taught to future generations.
Rizgar Oabid, the mayor of Shiladize--a town next to the Metina mountain range in Duhok province with an estimated population of 45,000--said that the national flag and anthem belong to the people of Kurdistan, not political parties, and therefore everyone owes them respect.
Palawan Shekhmami, the director of Kurdistan Flag Protection Foundation (KFPF), was present at the event, expressing that he is proud to see the Kurdish woman's efforts. He praised the patriotism of the people of Shiladize while condemning incidents involving attacks on the Kurdish flag.
A Kurdish flag was first printed in 1912 in Hawar Magazine in western Kurdistan, where raising the current rendition of the flag is now reportedly prohibited.
KFPF, Shekhmami added, has filed a lawsuit in a Duhok court alleging a number of individuals in Sulaimani city had recently defaced the colorful flag, further claiming that the perpetrators are "outsiders seeking to degrade" a sacred Kurdish symbol.
The Kurdistan flag was created in 1920 by the Society for the Rise of Kurdistan (CTK), it has been adapted and raised in different parts of Kurdish areas by various Kurdish movements throughout the following years and decades, and it is now the official flag of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.