Flag of Iran

What the flag means

• 🟢Green — Islam and growth
• ⚪White — peace
• 🔴Red — courage and martyrdom
• ☑️Central emblem stylizing 'Allah'; the borders repeat 'Allahu Akbar' 22 times

Design set by: ⁨قانون اساسی جمهوری اسلامی ایران، اصل ۱۸⁩ · Adopted 1980

Highlights

• 🕌 Isfahan's dazzling mosques
• 🏛️ The ancient ruins of Persepolis
• 📜 A long Persian civilization
• 🧵 Exquisite Persian carpets
• 🌹 A culture of poetry and gardens

Quick facts

Region

Asia · Southern Asia

Population

92,417,681 people (2025)

Area

1,648,195 km²

Capital

Tehran

Languages

Persian, Azerbaijani

Currency

Iranian rial (IRR)

Organizations

United Nations

Neighboring countries

• Afghanistan
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Iraq
• Pakistan
• Türkiye
• Turkmenistan

Land neighbors, approximated from simplified map outlines.

Symbols in History (1)

Coats of arms and emblems whose historic seat lies within this country’s present-day territory.

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  Lion and Sun

  Iran (Persia) · Modern reconstruction design

  OriginThe Lion and Sun is one of the most persistent emblems of Iran, appearing for centuries on coins, banners and city gates. It is usually explained astrologically, as the sun rising in the sign of Leo, an image that tied kingship to light. Passed from one Persian dynasty to the next, it stayed on the national flag and arms until 1979; the drawing shown here is not a piece from that time but a modern, standardised rendering of the emblem.

  DescriptionEverything is drawn in a single gold tone with a black outline. The lion strides to the left along a gold bar of ground fringed with short strokes along its top edge, its head turned to face the viewer, while its raised forepaw grips the hilt of a curved shamshir whose blade arcs up over the mane. Behind its back half a sun rises, a smooth disc with no face on it, throwing out straight bars of light whose ends are cut off square rather than pointed, with shorter rays set among the long ones. The tail sweeps up past those rays in a tall S-curve and finishes in a split, curling tuft. The lion speaks of royal courage, the sabre of the ruler's armed power and justice, and the rising sun of light and the radiance of sovereignty.

  Image source: Wikimedia Commons — Lion and Sun.svg