Flag Day: 17 December

The Kurdistan Parliament designated 17 December as Flag Day by Decision No. 48 of 19 June; most sources date the decision to 2009. It commemorates the flag at Mahabad.

The dominant account: the flag was first officially raised in Mahabad on 17 December 1945, weeks before the Republic of Kurdistan was proclaimed. A variant account ties the date to the lowering of the flag at the republic’s fall in December 1946. Both circulate; the first is the official reading, and no contemporary 1945 document has been found.

Schools and public institutions across the Kurdistan Region hold flag ceremonies. Giant flags are unrolled, including a flag of 1,300 metres in Silêmanî and one of 132 metres in Helebce honouring Qazî Mihemed. Kurds in Rojava and the diaspora mark the day online and at gatherings.