Symbols of North and East Syria

Emblem of North and East Syria
ArmigerAutonomous Administration of North and East Syria
Adopted2018
MottoArabic: الإدارة الذاتية لشمال وشرق سوريا
Kurdish: Rêveberiya Xweser a Bakur û Rojhilatê Sûriyeyê
Classical Syriac: ܡܕܰܒܪܳܢܘܬ݂ܳܐ ܝܳܬ݂ܰܝܬܳܐ ܠܓܰܪܒܝܳܐ ܘܡܰܕܢܚܳܐ ܕܣܘܪܝܰܐ
Turkish: Kuzey ve Doğu Suriye Özerk Yönetimi
(Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria)
A flag with horizontal bars of yellow red and green attached to a military vehicle (left) beside a Kurdish YPG fighter holding an AK-47. (right)
The Rojava tricolor flying at a YPG checkpoint in Afrin, 2012.

A number of different symbols have been used to represent the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), commonly known as Rojava. The Autonomous Administration adopted an official emblem in December 2018. The emblem consists of the words "Autonomous Administration" in Arabic, surrounded by seven red stars representing the regions of northeast Syria, as well as a branch of olives and spike of wheat, two crops grown in the region. Surrounding all of the symbols is the words "Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria" written in Arabic, Kurmanji, Syriac, and Turkish, the languages spoken in the region. The blue and yellow semicircles the whole emblem is put upon represents the Euphrates river and the "permanent spring" of the region.[1] A flag with the Autonomous Administration's emblem on a white field is also used occasionally to represent the Administration itself.[2][3]

One of the most commonly used flags, especially in Kurdish-majority areas, is the tricolor flag that was adopted by the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM), a prominent democratic confederalist organization in the region.[4] The green, yellow and red colors are traditionally associated with Kurdish people, for example in the modern Flag of Kurdistan.[5][6][7] A horizontal tricolor with blue, yellow, and red is used by the Syriac Union Party and its military wing in areas with a significant Syriac-Assyrian presence.[8]

  1. ^ "Announcement – New coat of arms for the Democratic Self-Administration". Self-Administration of North & East Syria Representation in Benelux. SA-NES. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  2. ^ "Autonomous Administration proposes congress on ISIS prisoners". Ajansa Nûçeyan a Firatê 2019. ANF English. 6 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  3. ^ "DAA intends to hold Islamic Conference". Hawar News. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  4. ^ Wes Enzinna (24 November 2015). "Dream of Secular Utopia in ISIS' Backyard". The New York Times.
  5. ^ AFP (21 March 2009). "A masked Kurdish man waves a PKK's flag". Getty Images. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  6. ^ Gutterman, Dov (25 February 1999). "Related (?) flags". Flags Of The World (FOTW). CRW Flags. Retrieved 17 May 2018. (Find original article mentioned?)
  7. ^ Ballout, Mohammed (15 November 2012). "Syrian Kurds ready to fight an imminent battle for Qamishli city". Ekurd Daily. Kurd Net. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference sutoro was invoked but never defined (see the help page).