The jihadist flag is a flag commonly used by various Islamist and fundamentalist movements as a symbol of jihad. It usually consists of the Black Standard with a white text of the Shahada (Islamic declaration of faith) emblazoned across it in calligraphy style writing. Its usage was widely adopted by Islamist groups and jihadists during the 1990s and early 2000s.
Organizations which have used such a flag include:
- al-Qaeda
- Islamic State
- al-Shabaab
- Chechen Mujahideen
- Hezbollah
- Afghanistan
- Hamas militants
In the last decade of the South Thailand insurgency, the al-Raya' flag has largely replaced the colourful secessionist flags formerly used by different rebel groups.
Islamic State variant
The variant used by the Islamic State, and before that by the Islamic State of Iraq (since c. 2006) depicts the second phrase of the shahada in the form of a depiction of the supposedly historical seal of Muhammad.
In August 2014, British Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that anybody displaying "the Islamic State flag" in the United Kingdom should be arrested. Citing the Terrorism Act 2000, section 13 (1b) of the act states "[a] person in a public place commits an offence if he wears, carries or displays an article in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation" and can face six months in prison or a statutory fine.
It has also been banned from public demonstration in the Netherlands since August 2014.
The use of the image of the IS flag (but not other versions of the black standard) for non-educational purposes has been forbidden in Germany by the Federal Ministry of the Interior since September 2014. Neighbouring Austria proposed a ban in the same month.
See also
References
External links
- Collection of imagery of black flags used in Islamic extremism
- The Black Flag (al-raya) at The Islamic Imagery Project, The Combating Terrorism Center at West Point
- The Semiotics of a Black Flag (makingsenseofjihad.com)
- Usama Hasan, The Black Flags of Khurasan (unity1.wordpress.com)