New Iraq flag approved

IRAQ’S US-picked leaders approved a new flag for the country, making a dramatic change that drops the Saddam Hussein-era slogan God is great, changes the colours and introduces symbols of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

The new flag is white, with two parallel blue strips across the bottom representing the rivers and a yellow stripe between them representing Iraq’s Kurdish minority. Above the stripes is a blue crescent representing Islam.

The old Iraq flag had red and white bands across the top and bottom, with a white band between them with three green stars. During the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, Saddam added the words God is great, to boost the religious credentials of his secular regime.