Coat of arms of Iraq edit extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (using Wikipedia Reflection Script)

The coat of arms or state emblem of Iraq includes the golden eagle of Saladin associated with 20th-century pan-Arabism, bearing a shield of the Iraqi flag, and holding a scroll below with the Arabic words الجمهورية العراقية (al-Jumhuriya al-`Iraqiya or "The Iraqi Republic").

The Iraqi government intends to introduce a new coat-of-arms for the country before 2009, so that the current design may be the most short-lived.¹ The new arms will most likely be introduced at the same time as the new flag.

History

The first post-monarchical state emblem of Iraq (adopted under the Qassem regime) was based on the ancient sun-disk symbol of Shamash, and avoided pan-Arab symbolism. In 1965, the first coat of arms incorporating the eagle of Saladin was adopted (based on the earlier coat of arms of the United Arab Republic). It did not have the Kufic script between the stars, and the flag stripes were placed vertically on the shield. This version remained in use until replaced by a version with Takbir and horizontal stripes in 1991, following a similar change to the flag. In 2004, the arms was slightly altered to conform with the flag; the script on the shield was changed to Kufic. Continued controversy over Iraq's flag resulted in Iraq's government adopting an interim flag which has removed the green stars but retains the Kufic script.²³ The future of the coat-of-arms is linked to the future of the flag.

Coat of arms of Iraq from 1959 to 1965.

Coat of arms of Iraq from 1965 to 1991.

Coat of arms of Iraq from 1991 to 2004.

Coat of arms of Iraq from 2004 to 2008.

See also

• Flag of Iraq
• Coat of arms of Egypt
• Coat of arms of Syria

References

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