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04/26/2004 Entry: "Umm, who designed this thing?"
Umm, who designed this thing?
Which friggin' genius is responsible for this?
It was supposed to be the perfect symbol for a new and unified Iraq: an Islamic crescent on a field of pure white, with two blue stripes representing the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and a third yellow stripe to symbolize the country's Kurdish minority.But the new national flag, presented Monday after an artistic competition sponsored by the Iraqi Governing Council, appears to have met with widespread public disapproval here -- in part because of its design and in part because of the increasing unpopularity of the U.S.-appointed council.
In interviews in several Baghdad neighborhoods, a variety of residents expressed strong negative reactions to the flag, which was reproduced in most daily newspapers. In particular, people objected to the pale blue color of the crescent and stripes, saying it was identical to the dominant color in the flag of Israel, a Jewish state.
"When I saw it in the newspaper, I felt very sad," said Muthana Khalil, 50, a supermarket owner in Saadoun, a commercial area in central Baghdad. "The flags of other Arab countries are red and green and black. Why did they put in these colors that are the same as Israel? Why was the public opinion not consulted?"
Replies: 9 people speak up
From the WaPo:
Hamid Kifaie, the chief spokesman for the Governing Council, said Monday night that the winning design, designed by an Iraqi artist named Rifaat Chaderchi, was chosen from among 30 entries. A committee of council members felt it best represented the major values and attributes of Iraq, Kifaie said.
Posted by Burger @ 04/26/2004 08:19 PM NY
Blah3,
Could you reproduce the image on your blog? It's just that I refuse to register for anything free on the Internet. Yeah, I'm that security conscious.
Posted by Metropolitan99 @ 04/26/2004 09:20 PM NY
Metro, click here. That's an Aussie news site and they don't do no steenkeen registrAYshuns in Oz-land! At least that I've run across yet.
Proportions are a little off (boxy rather than rectangular) but you can see the essential loathesomeness of it.
I am thinking of starting a group, Vexillologists Opposing Misguided Iraqi Tampering.
Posted by Xan @ 04/26/2004 10:32 PM NY
looks like a big C to me...............Condi, just kidding.
In the probe that will follow it will be found out the flag designer has jewish roots.
another thing , 30 entries, sounds like the republican caucus meetings in Demisota.
Posted by Robin_Hack_er @ 04/27/2004 12:20 AM NY
I wonder if the winning artist chose the colors, or whether his graphic was used and the colors changed.
This is total speculation, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he used "Arabic" colors in his design and a US-based consultant changed them to something more pleasing to Western aesthetics without knowing the significance of the pale blue.
Sometimes, people in the position of approving a design change something about it just because they can.
Posted by Kate @ 04/27/2004 10:35 AM NY
The acronym v.o.m.i.t. is
Xan-tastic.
Posted by sin @ 04/27/2004 11:24 AM NY
well, this way it will not clash when it is flying on the poll next to the isreali flag, after we hand the entire middle east to those psychopaths, and before people start calling me an anti semite, let me clarify, by "those psychopaths" i mean the zionist murderers that run that country, not jewish people in general. i think that most sane jews are probobly as embarassed by the israeli government as i am by mine.
Posted by justin @ 04/27/2004 12:58 PM NY
Christ, why not show Ariel Sharon in a tank? (Or Christ?)
Posted by Peanut @ 04/27/2004 01:08 PM NY
or maybe ariel sharon AND jesus in one of those new "Paladin" artillery vehicles, driving over arabs throwing rocks, that would be a really bitchin flag! maybe just put a crescent on it somewhere to appease the muslims.
i think that will go over well.
Posted by justin @ 04/27/2004 01:27 PM NY
