Lion and Sun

The Lion and Sun in the Sadabad Palace, Tehran

State flag of Iran, 1964-1979. Basic three colours with Lion and Sun, 4:7 ratio

Civil flag of Iran 1925–1964

The flag of the Red Lion and Sun Society, the Iranian equivalent of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent societies until the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

The Lion and Sun motif (shir o khorshid, شیر و خورشید) is one of the better known emblems of Iran, and between 1964 and 1979 was an element in Iran's national flag.

The motif, which combines "ancient Iranian, Arab, Turkish, and Mongol traditions", is first attested in the 12th century. It eventually received a specifically Shi'ite interpretation. It became a national emblem during the Qajar era.

History

The lion and sun symbol first appears in the 12th century, most notably on the coinage of Kaykhusraw II, who was Sultan of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm from 1237 to 1246. These were "probably to exemplify the ruler's power." (cf. symbolism, below). The notion that "the sun [of the symbol] symbolized the Georgian wife of the king, is a myth, for on one issue 'the sun rests on the back of two lions rampant with their tails interlaced' [...] and on some issues the sun appears as a male bust." Other chief occurrences of 12th-14th century usage include: an early-13th century luster tile now in the Louvre; a ca. 1330 Mamluk steel mirror from Syria or Egypt; on a ruined 12th-14th century Arkhunid bridge near Baghdad; on some Ilkhanid coins; and on a 12th-13th century bronze ewer now in the Golestan palace museum. In the latter, a rayed nimbus encloses three female faces rests on a lion whose tail ends in a winged monster.

The use of the lion and sun symbol in a flag is first attested in a miniature painting dated to 1423. The painting, which is of a scene from Mongol conquest (Timurid dynasty, 1370–1506), depicts several horsemen that approach the walled city of Nishapur. One of the horsemen carries a banner that bears a lion passant with a rising sun on its back. The pole is tipped with a crescent moon. By the time of the Safavids (1501-1722), and the subsequent unification of Iran as a single state, the lion and sun had become a familiar sign, appearing on copper coins, on banners, and on works of art.

Flag of Agha Mohammad Khan (r. 1794-1797), founder of the Qajar dynasty.

It is "clear that, although various alams and banners were employed by the Safavids [...] the lion and sun symbol had become by the time of Shah Abbas the recognized emblem of Persia." "The association may originally have been based on a learned interpretation of the Shahnama's references to the 'the Sun of Iran' and 'the Moon of the Turanians." (cf: the "Roman" - i.e. Byzantine - king as the "Moon of the West" in the symbolism section below). For the Safavids, the Shahnama was no doubt the better two of the references, and "since the crescent moon had been adopted as the dynastic and ultimately national emblem of the Ottoman sultans [...], who were the new sovereigns of 'Rum,' the Safavids of Persia, needing to have a dynastic and national emblem of their own, chose the lion and sun motif."

The sword was added in the 16th century.

In the 19th century, European visitors at the Qajar court attributed the lion and sun to remote antiquity, which prompted Mohammad Shah Qajar to give it a "nationalistic interpretation." In 1846 he published a decree that stated that "For each sovereign state an emblem is established, and for the august state of Persia, too, the Order of Lion and Sun has been in use, an ensign which is nearly three thousand years old—indeed dating from before the age of Zoroaster. And the reason for its currency may have been as follows. In the religion of Zoroaster, the sun is considered the revealer of all things and nourisher of the universe [...], hence, they venerated it". This is followed by an astrological rationale for having selecting the "selected the sun in the house of Leo as the emblem of the august state of Persia." "The decree then went on to claim that the Order of the Lion and Sun 'had existed for centuries' until the worship of the sun was abolished with the coming of Islam."

The emblem remained the official symbol of Iran until 1979 revolution, when the "Lion & Sun" symbol was - by decree - removed from public spaces and government organisations and replaced by the present-day Coat of arms of Iran.

Symbolism

A "vast amount of literary and archaeological evidence [...] demonstrates that from the 12th century the ancient zodiacal sign of the sun in the house of Leo gained popularity as an emblematic figure [...] probably to exemplify the ruler's power." Indeed, the use of light imagery as a sign of kingship descends from pre-historic times: The name of the mythical Jamshid, who in Iranian tradition is the prototype ruler and from whom many dynasts claimed descent, derives from the Avestan language expression Yima Xsšaēta, "radiant Yima", just as Khorshid, the Persian language name of (the divinity of) the sun, derives from hvarə-xsšaēta, "radiant sun". The sun had always been associated with Persian royalty: Iranian tradition recalls that aforementioned Kayanids had a golden sun as their emblem. From the Greek historians of classical antiquity it is known that "a crystal image" of the sun adorned the royal tent of Darius III, that the Arsacid banner was adorned with the sun, and that the Sassanid standards had a red ball symbolizing the sun. The Byzantine chronicler Malalas records that the salutation of a letter from the "Persian king, the Sun of the East," was addressed to the "Roman Caesar, the Moon of the West". The Turanian king Afrasab is recalled as saying: "I have heard from wise men that when the Moon of the Turan rises up it will be harmed by the Sun of the Iranians." The sun was always imagined as male, and in some banners a figure of a male replaces the symbol of the sun. In others, a male figure accompanies the sun.

Similarly, the lion too has always had a close association with Persian kingship. The garments and throne decorations of the Achaemenid kings were embroidered with lion motifs. The crown of the half-Persian Seleucid king Antiochus I was adorned with a lion. In the investiture inscription of Ardashir I at Naqsh-e Rustam, the breast armour of the king is decorated with lions. Further, in some Iranian dialects the word for king (shah) is pronounced as sher, homonymous with the word for lion. Islamic, Turkish, and Mongol influences also stressed the symbolic association of the lion and royalty. The earliest evidence for the use of a lion on a standard comes from the Shahnameh, which noted that the feudal house of Godarz (presumably a family of Parthian or Sassanid times) adopted a golden lion for its devices.

See also

• Flags of Iran
• Coat of arms of Iran
• Order of the Lion and the Sun
• Order of Aftab or the Order of Sun.
• Asiatic Lion the "Persian Lion" is now extinct in Iran, the last few survive in India

External links

• The Banner device from the miniature painting dated to 1423.
• Drouville's depiction of the Persian flag in the early 19th century.
• Standard (with sword) of the Persian delegation during Mohammad-Reza Beg's visit to Versailles in August 1715.