 | |
| Use | Ethnic flag |
|---|---|
| Adopted | 1982 |
| Design | Winged sun onred background |
| Designed by | Joanis Almasudi Youssef |
TheAramean flag orSyriac-Aramean flag is the flag of theSyriac-Aramean people.[1] A first version, similar to the current one, was developed in 1980 byBahro Suryoyo ("Syriac light"), a Syriac journal part of the Syrianska Riksförbundet i Sverige (English:Syriac Federation in Sweden[a]). The current version was developed in early 1982.[3]
TheWorld Council of Arameans, an international non-government organization, approved of the flag on July 16, 1983, inNew Jersey.[citation needed] The design was based on theWinged sun symbol, replacing the sun with atorch symbolising theHoly Spirit in Christianity.
The design is specifically based on a relief depictingGilgamesh between two bull-men supporting a winged sun disk, excavated in 1927 by theGerman archaeologistMax von Oppenheim (1860-1946) and theFrenchsemitologistAndré Dupont-Sommer (1900-1983) atTell Halaf the former Arameancity-state ofBit Bahiani which is located on the border ofTur Abdin region, today located in theAl Hasakah governorate of northeasternSyria. The relief was part of the entrance of the palace of the Aramean kingKapara.[4][5]
The main characteristic of the flag is the eagle, which stands for strength and power. The sun disk is replaced by a flame to symbolize, according to Syrianska Riksförbundet, theHoly Spirit and theChristian heritage of the Syriac peoples. Syrianska Riksförbundet further mean that the four stars represent the rivers in the Aramean homeland: Tigris, Euphrates, the Gihon and the Pishon; the red background of the flag was chosen to represent the blood that was spilled during theSyriac Genocide; the yellow color represents thehope of an independent Syriac-Aramean state.[6] It is intended to represent "the Aramean (Syriac) nation in the Aramean homeland and in the Aramean diaspora".[7]
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