Social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, updated the Iranian flag emoticon used on its website to feature Iran’s pre-Islamic revolution lion and sun flag, early Saturday morning, as protests across the nation rage on for the 15th consecutive day.
The pre-Islamic revolution flag, which was the official flag of the nation prior to the overthrow of the Shah in 1979, features horizontal stripes of green, white, and red with a depiction of a sword-wielding lion in front of a sun in the center.
The flag previously used on X was one imposed by the Iranian regime following the Islamic revolution. First flown in 1980, that flag features similar green, white, and red stripes with a red emblem of the regime in the center. Stylized text spelling out “Allahu akbar,” “God is great” in Arabic, lines the center stripe.
Nikita Bier, Head of Product at X, responded to a user’s request to update the emoticon on Friday with “Give me a few hours.”
Bier then shared a link to a coding platform displaying that the regime’s flag had been deleted from X’s website code and replaced with the lion and sun flag, stating that the update would be live shortly.
Early on Saturday morning, the update went into effect, replacing all previously utilized regime flags with the sun and lion, including on official Iranian regime accounts.
The lion and sun flag as an anti-regime symbol
The sun and lion flag has been a major fixture in anti-regime protests and is often used as a symbol of support for Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.
Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s pre-revolution shah, has been largely influential in encouraging anti-regime protestors from afar and advocating for outside intervention as the regime violently cracks down on the demonstrations.