The flag, a condensed symbol of a nation’s political and collective identity, has held an unstable and turbulent place in Afghanistan’s modern history. In less than a century, the country has seen more than twenty flag changes, driven not by a gradual national consensus or social reconciliation, but by sudden shifts of power, coups, revolutions, and military defeats. This cycle reflects the persistent disconnect between state and society and the inability of political elites to create a shared emblem of national identity.
From King Amanullah Khan’s reign (1919–1929), when the black-red-green tricolor first emerged as a symbol of independence from Britain, the flag primarily served as a projection of central authority rather than a unifying national emblem. During King Zahir Shah’s era (1933–1973), the tricolor was repeatedly redesigned, alternating royal and Islamic insignias—not as a result of organic national transformation, but as reflections of the monarchy’s shifting notions of legitimacy.
With Mohammed Daoud Khan’s 1973 coup and the end of the monarchy, the republic’s flag appeared, only to be swiftly replaced following the 1978 communist revolution. The communist period (1978–1992) witnessed four separate flag changes, from the solid red banner with a yellow star and wheat emblem to various iterations of the black-red-green tricolor adorned with Islamic and socialist symbols. Each redesign attempted to lend legitimacy to regimes reliant on Soviet support and facing widespread popular resistance.
The 1992 victory of the Mujahideen revived the traditional tricolor with an Islamic crest, but the absence of a unified political settlement left the flag’s legitimacy fractured. Civil war turned the flag into another marker of factional division. With the Taliban’s rise in 1996, the plain white banner bearing the shahada replaced all previous flags. For the Taliban, it symbolized religious purity; for opponents and non-Pashtun communities, it embodied exclusivity and repression.
The Taliban’s fall in 2001 and the establishment of the Islamic Republic restored the historic tricolor, which for two decades served as the official state flag. While many saw it as a symbol of resistance and hope for a freer future, others—especially in Taliban-controlled regions—viewed it as the product of foreign military intervention and disconnected from local culture. This duality prevented the republican flag from becoming a truly national emblem, though it gained powerful symbolic weight in international forums and among Afghanistan’s diaspora.
The Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 and the reinstatement of their white flag once again thrust Afghanistan into another cycle of symbolic upheaval. The Taliban present their banner as a sign of “legitimate Islamic rule,” but for many, especially urban youth, it stands as a symbol of erasure—denying the country’s rich mosaic of ethnic, linguistic, and religious identities. This divide underscores not only historical fractures but the ongoing failure of Afghanistan’s political structures to forge a shared national symbol.
A review of these changes makes one reality clear: no flag—monarchical, republican, or Taliban—has ever achieved the status of a truly “national” banner in Afghanistan. Flags have consistently been imposed by ruling powers rather than born of national dialogue or social consensus. In many nations, the flag serves as a stable marker of collective pride and unity; in Afghanistan, each transfer of power erases the previous symbol altogether, mirroring the absence of a foundational agreement on shared identity.
National Flag Day, first formalized in 2019 under the previous republic, now arrives in a country where the tricolor no longer flies over state institutions, replaced by the Taliban’s white flag. Rather than invoking national solidarity, the day starkly highlights the deep and competing narratives of what Afghanistan represents. A century of history suggests that until there is an inclusive agreement encompassing all ethnic and social groups, no flag—whether black-red-green or white—can truly carry the weight of being “national.”
The views expressed in the “Your Perspective” section reflect those of the author and do not necessarily represent Deeyar TV’s editorial position.
