Flags have always had a great significance in history when they were used as a unifying symbol in times of crisis. It was important, specially during war, to hold the flag high and never let it fall to the ground. This would symbolize strenght, courage and agreement. Lion and the sun flag is therefore today very important for the iranian struggle against the oppression of the islamic republic.

Lion and the sun flag, or Shir-o-Khorshid as it is called in the farsi language, was the flag that was used before the disaster of 1979 when Iran became a islamic republic and Khomeini came to power. The flag contains three colors, green(top), white(middle) and red(below). In the white part there is a lion with a sword in his hand and there is a sun behind the lion. Below the lion there is a stretch.

The green color symbolizes nature and Irans prosperity and also development. The white color symbolizes peace and the red color symbolizes war and blood. In its entirety one believes in fighting for ones right(red), make peace(white) and start building your country(green).

When the islamic republic took the political power they kept the colors but chose to change the emblem in the white part of the flag and replaced it with a emblem which is supposed to mean "Allah" on the arabic language. But the emblem that is on the flag of the islamic republic does not mean "Allah". It is a old hindu sign. There were also other changes that the islamic republic made on the flag. In the lower part of the green area and upper parts of the red area of the flag it was written "Allah-u-akbar" in white print. The islamic republic thought that the Lion and the sun symbolized monarchy which is entirely wrong.

The Lion symbol has been used by iranians in several thousand years and you can notice this when you see old ruins in Perspolis. The Lion would symbolize strength and power. The sword would also show strength but it also shows that the lion, the iranian people, are ready to fight and defend their homeland. The sun symbolized light, purity and warmth. The stretch under the lion is called "the constitutional way" and symbolizes that the people and the state must follow the constitution.

Lion and the sun flag was mostly used in the iranian history in different forms. Sometimes the flag had triangel form. Other times there was more distance between the lion and the sun. In the beginning the lion had no sword. The sword came during the Safaviddynasty, the first iranian dynasty after the arab ockupation.

Lion and the sun flag with its three colors became the officiall iranian flag after the constitutional revolution in 1906. In 1957 the iranian primeminister, Dr Manochehr Eghbal, gave exact measures for the iranian flag.

Today the Lion and the sun flag is very respected by the iranian opposition in their struggle against the islamic republic. Lion and the sun flag is used by iranian as Irans formal and real flag.

It often happens that we see iranian youths in Sweden that have graduated and wave Lion and the sun flag.