Flag of Pashtunistan

Flag of Pashtunistan
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	1947
Use	alternative variant

The flag of Pashtunistan is a flag representing the land of Pashtunistan, divided by the Durand Line between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The flag was promoted by the Afghan government until the fall of the socialist government in 1992.

Background[edit]

The mountainous landscape with the sun shining over the Hindu Kush was chosen a symbol of the birth of free Pashtunistan. The Arabic inscriptions mean "God is the greatest" (top) and "Pashtunistan" (bottom). The red color and the inscriptions was used on the flags of the Waziristan insurgents who fought against British Raj. Another connotation of red among the Pashtuns was the Servants of God movement known as the Red Shirts. Black is the traditional color of Afghanistan, the black standard served as the first flag.^[1] The flag was adopted on September 2, 1947, at the symbolic declaration of independence, during the protests after the referendum on joining Pakistan.^[2] In Pakistan, the flag was losing its popularity along with the integration of Pashtuns with Pakistani state structures. It was widely used in Afghanistan until the fall of the PDPA government in 1992. From the 1950s to the early 1980s it appeared on Afghan postage stamps.^[3]