ASSYRIA

The Assyrians are an ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. Many have migrated to the Caucasus, North America and Europe during the past century. Persecution in the wake of World War I and the breakup of the Ottoman Empire resulted in a significant diaspora.

The Assyrian flag is the flag that universally represents the Assyrian nation in the homeland and in the diaspora. George Atanos first designed the flag in 1968. Many Assyrian groups adopted it in 1971. It consists of a golden circle at the center that represents the sun, which, by its exploding and leaping flames, generates heat and light to sustain the earth and all life.