Afghanistan

The flag of Afghanistan is a vertical tricolour flag featuring (from left to right of the flag) the colours black, red and green. In the centre of the flag sits the arms of Afghanistan, depicting the Muslim Mehrab (the niche that shows the direction to the Muslim Holy City, Mecca) and Minbar (the pulpit from which sermons are preached), set within an image of a mosque with non descript flags on each side. Surrounding this image are sheaves of wheat. At the top of the arms, there are inscriptions that read "God is Great" and "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is the Prophet of Allah". At the bottom of the arms, there is the date 1298 (the date in the Muslim calendar when Afghanistan was internationally recognised as an independent state) and the name Afghanistan, both in Arabic script.

A new flag was adopted by Afghanistan on 4 January 2004 following the installment of a new democratic government. Minor changes have been made to the flag since then, the most recent being on 19 August 2013 when the current official design was adopted. The Afghanistan flag's ratio is 2:3.

The colours of the Afghanistan flag are symbolic in various ways. Black recalls the very first flag of Afghanistan, red represents bravery, and green is the traditional Islamic colour.

Interestingly, Afghanistan had 14 distinct national flags throughout the 20th and 21st century prior to the present day design being implemented.

The flag of Afghanistan flying at the Presidential Palace compound in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2019