Aramean-Syriac flag

The Aramean flag or Syriac-Aramean flag is the flag of the Syriac-Aramean people ^[1] A first version, similar to the current one, was developed in 1980 by Bahro Suryoyo ("Syriac light"), a Syriac journal part of the Syriac Federation in Sweden (Swedish: Syrianska Riksförbundet). The current version was developed in early 1982.^[2]

Syriac-Aramean flag

Use	Ethnic flag
Adopted	1982
Design	Winged sun on red background
Designed by	Bahro Suryoyo

The World Council of Arameans, an international non-government organization, approved of the flag on July 16, 1983 in New Jersey.^{[citation needed]} The design was based on the Winged sun symbol, replacing the sun by a torch symbolising the Holy Spirit in Christianity.

Symbolism

The design is specifically based on a relief depicting Gilgamesh between two bull-men supporting a winged sun disk, excavated in 1927 by the German archaeologist Max von Oppenheim (1860-1946) and the French semitologist André Dupont-Sommer (1900-1983) at Tell Halaf the former Aramean city-state of Bit Bahiani which is located on the border of Tur Abdin region, today located in the Al Hasakah governorate of northeastern Syria. The relief was part of the entrance of the palace of the Aramean king Kapara. ^[3][4]

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 the Holy Spirit and the Christian heritage of the Syriac peoples. The four stars represent the rivers in the Aramean homeland: Tigris, Euphrates, Gihon and Pishon. The red background of the flag was chosen to represent the blood that was spilled during the Syriac Genocide. The yellow color represents the hope of an independent Syriac-Aramean state. ^[5] It is intended to represent "the Aramean (Syriac) nation in the Aramean homeland and in the Aramean diaspora".^[6]

Gallery

• 
  Syriac flag, adopted in 1980^[7]
• 
  Earlier version of the flag, used by the Aramean Democratic Organization
• 
  Aramean relief found in Tell Halaf

See also

• Arameans
• Syriac Christianity

References

1. "Syriac-Aramaic People (Syria)". Crwflags.com. 18 June 2001. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2008.
2. Atto, Naures (2011). Hostages in the Homeland, Orphans in the Diaspora: Identity Discourses among the Assyrian/Syriac Elites in the European Diaspora. Leiden University Press.
3. Die aramäisch-assyrische Stadt Guzana. Ein Rückblick auf die Ausgrabungen Max von Oppenheims in Tell Halaf. (German) Schriften der Max Freiherr von Oppenheim-Stiftung. H. 15. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-447-05106-X.
4. Relief Depicting Gilgamesh Between Two Bull-Men Supporting a Winged Sun Disk, Fr.Tell-Halaf, Syria Archived June 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine Syrianerna – En nation i förskringring, Assad Sauma Assad, 2005
5. "Syrianer - en nation i förskingring, p. 24, 2004, Syrianska Riksförbundet i Sverige" (PDF). Syrianska Riksförbundet i Sverige. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
6. flag of Syriac-Aramaic People (Syria) flags, Syriac-Aramaic People (Syria)
7. "Syriac-Aramaic People (Syria)". Crwflags.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-16.