| Capital | Kabul |
|---|---|
| Continent | as |
| Region | Southern Asia |
| '22 Population | 40,754,388 |
| Independence | 1709 |
| Flag Adoption | 2021 |
| Currency | Afghan afgani |
Meaning of the Flag
The current flag consists of a white field with a black Shahada. It was adopted on 15 August 2021 with the victory of the Taliban in the 2001-2021 war.
Flag Colors
The tricolor flag remains in use internationally by resistance movements:
- Black: symbolizes the dark, troubled past of the nation
- Green: represents both Islam and prosperity
- Red: represents the blood shed by those who fought for the country’s independence.
The flag also featured its national emblem printed in white and centered on the flag. This represented Islam and featured the Arabic inscription of the Muslim creed and the Takbir – the Arabic expression, “God is great.”
Flag History
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1709 - 1738 |
1793 - 1842 |
1928 |
1930 - 1973 |
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1974 - 1978 |
1992 - 2002 |
2002 |
2004 - 2021 |
The first flag of Afghanistan was used during the Hotak dynasty in 1709. The original flag of Afghanistan featured an all-black design.
Since that time, the nation has had 27 different flags. During the 20th century it was changed 19 times – more than any other nation in the world. Most Aghanistan flags used the colors of black, red and green (colors first introduced in 1928). The flags continued to change after every few years, many just for a year.
Fun Facts
Afghanistan has had 27 different national flags since the 18th century.
Meaning of Afghanistan
Afghanistan got its current name in 1919, when the nation won its independence from the United Kingdom. The name Afghānistān means "land of the Afghans", which originates from the ethnonym Afghan. The last part of the name, -stān is a Persian suffix for "place".
Historically, the name Afghan mainly designated Pashtuns, the largest ethnic group of Afghanistan. Pashtuns are an Iranian ethnic group constituting around 48% of the country's total population.
Some modern scholars suggest that the word "Afghan" is derived from words awajan/apajan in Avestan and ava-han/apa-han in Sanskrit, which means "killing, striking, throwing and resisting, or defending." Under the Sasanians, and possibly the Parthian Empire, the word was used to refer to men of a certain Persian sect.
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