Borders
This series was captured at the historical Erbil Citadel, and throughout the mountains of Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. While visiting the autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq, I was struck by the ubiquity of the Kurdish flag in contrast with the general absence of the Iraqi flag.
The Kurdish flag’s centerpiece is a blazing sun (Roj) with 21 rays; the number 21 is sacred in Yazdâni religions, and it also represents the usual March celebration date of Newroz (the arrival of spring). Its colours are symbolic as well: red represents the bloodied martyrs of freedom, green captures the beauty of Kurdish landscapes, and the golden sun represents the source of light and vitality.
I empathize with the Kurdish refusal to acknowledge the Iraqi flag, which Saddam Hussein modified to include the takbīr (the phrase “Allahu akbar”, which means "God is great" in Arabic) in what is allegedly his own handwriting. I find it repulsive that he committed atrocities including a genocide of Kurdish people under the name of God, which need not be on the flag in any case.
To this day, Kurdish peoples strive for any rays of light we can find, and our flag encapsulates our mission of transcending border politics to establish a home of our own.
