Iranian flags from before 1979 have appeared alongside Israeli flags in demonstrations worldwide against Iran’s regime. Meanwhile, Iran’s current flag appears in pro-Palestinian demonstrations where the deceased dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is praised.
In early January 2026, widespread protests broke out across all 31 provinces of Iran against the current regime. Demonstrations of solidarity also took place in many countries where there are Iranian diaspora communities. At many of these rallies, participants waved a pre-1979 Iranian flag—green, white, and red with a golden lion and sun at the center—associated with the Pahlavi dynasty, which ruled from 1925. Today, this flag is also used as a symbol of resistance against the current government.
After the Islamic revolution in 1979, the flag design was modified: the lion and sun were replaced with stylised symbols incorporating four crescents and a sword.
Recently, pro-Israel and opposition Iranian demonstrators have waved both the old Iranian flag and the Israeli flag at joint protests against the current regime, held in Europe, the U.S., and South Africa.
Iran’s current regime flag often appears at pro-Palestinian demonstrations worldwide. In London in mid-March, hundreds participated in a pro-Palestinian protest that had been banned by the government after the Metropolitan Police said it was organised by a group supporting the Iranian regime, according to the BBC.
During the demonstration many waved the current Iranian flag; some chanted “from the river to the sea,” while others held images of Ali Khamenei. At a counter-protest on the north bank of the Thames, various groups gathered, including Jewish organizations fighting antisemitism and Iranian groups opposing the regime.
In Gothenburg, a recurring Sunday demonstration turned on March 1 into a rally with speakers praising the Iranian regime and Khamenei. Participants included all manner of Islamists, communists, and postcolonial left-wing activists waving Hezbollah flags and symbols of the brutal Revolutionary Guard with a large poster of Khamenei, wrote The Express
EU member states agreed in late January to label Iran’s Revolutionary Guard—whose charge is to shield the regime, and crush every attempt to protest or any uprising—as a terrorist organization, according to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
Support for Tehran is openly expressed in pro-Palestinian groups on social media and in speeches at demonstrations
