The Derafsh-e Kavian (Derafš-e Kāvīān, Middle Persian) was the legendary royal standard of the Sassanid kings.^[1] The banner was also sometimes called the "standard of Jamshid" (Derafš-e Jamshid), the "standard of Fereydun" (Derafš-e Fereydun), and the "royal standard" (Derafš-e Kayr). Pahlavi is a term that refers: (1) to a script used in Iran derived from the Aramaic script, and (2) more broadly, to Middle Persian, the Middle Iranian language written in this script. ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate... Jamshid (in Persian: ‎) is a common Persian male first name. ... Fereydun is an Iranian mythical king and hero who is an emblem of victory, justice and generosity in the Persian literature. ...

The name Derafš-e Kāvīān (Modern Persian: Derafš Kāvīāni درفش كاويانى) means "the standard of the kay(s)" (i.e., kavis "kings") or "of Kāva."^[1] The latter meaning is an identification with an Iranian legend in which the Derafš-e Kāvīān was the standard of a mythological blacksmith-turned-hero named Kāva (Modern Persian: Kāveh), who led a popular uprising against the foreign demon-like ruler Dahāg (Modern Persian: Zahhāk). Recalling the Sassanid-era legend, the 10th century epic Shāhnāma recasts Zahhak as an evil and tyrannical Arab, against whom Kāveh called the people to arms, using the blacksmith's leather apron on a spear as a standard. In the story, after the war that called for the kingship of Fereydun (Middle Persian: Frēdōn) had been won, the people decorated the apron with jewels and the flag became the symbol of Iranian independence and resistance towards foreign tyranny. Statue of Kaveh in Isfahan My name is Kaveh, I am a Persian-American and live in San Diego. ... Zahak, Zahhak, Zahak-e Tāzi or (Arab Zahak) also knwon as Bivar-Asp, which means [he who has] 10,000 horses in the Pahlavi (middle Persian) language, and Avestan Āži-Dahāk) is a mythical figure of ancient Persia (Iran). ... Shâhnameh Shāhnāmé, or Shāhnāma (Persian: )(alternative spellings are Shahnama, Shahnameh, Shahname, Shah-Nama, etc. ... Fereydun is an Iranian mythical king and hero who is an emblem of victory, justice and generosity in the Persian literature. ...

By the late Sassanid era (224-651), a real Derafš-e Kāvīān had emerged as the standard of the Sassanid dynasts. It was thus also representative of the Sassanid state - Ērānshāhr ايرانشهر, the "Kingdom of Iran" - and may so be considered to have been the first "national flag" of Iran. The banner consisted of a star (the akotar) on a purple field, was encrusted with jewels and had trailing red, gold and purple streamers on its edges. The term akotar was significant since the star also represented "fortune", and the capture and destruction of the banner on a field of battle implied the loss of the battle (and hence the loss of fortune).^[2] Following the defeat of the Sassanids at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah, the Sassanid standard was recovered by one Zerar bin Kattab,^[1] who received 30,000 dinars for it. After the jewels were removed the caliph Omar is said to have burned the standard.^[1] Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate... The Battle of al-Qādisiyyah (in Arabic: معارك القادسيّة, alternate spellings: Qadisiyya, Qadisiyyah, Kadisiya) was the decisive engagement between the Arab Muslim army and the Sāsānian Persian army during the first period of Islamic expansion which resulted in the Islamic conquest of Iran. ... For other uses, see Umar (disambiguation). ...

As the symbol of the Sassanid state,^[3] the Derafsh-e Kavian was irrevocably tied to the concept of Eranshahr and hence with the concept of Iranian nationhood. Thus, in 867, when the Saffarid "Yaqub Layt 'claimed the inheritance of the kings of Persia' and sought 'to revive their glory,' a poem written on his behalf sent to the Abbasid caliph said: 'With me is the Derafsh-e Kavian, through which I hope to rule the nations'."^[2] Although no evidence that Yaqub Layt ever re-recreated such a flag survives, star imagery in banners remained popular until the ascendance of the lion and sun symbol. The Saffarid dynasty of Persia ruled a short-lived empire centred on Seistan, a border district between modern-day Afghanistan and Iran, between AD 861-1003. ... Yaqub bin Laith as-Saffar (?-879?) was the founder of the Saffarid dynasty. ... Abbasid Caliphate (Abbasid Khalifat) and contemporary states and empires in 820. ... State flag of Iran, 1964-1979. ...

derafsh as pronounced by the sherazi's and darafsh being the pronounciation of the of the rest of the dynasty that settled in tehran.

See also

• Sassanid dynasty
• Iranian nationalism
• Flag of Iran

The Sassanid Empire in the time of Shapur I; the conquest of Cappadocia was temporary Official language Pahlavi (Middle Persian) Dominant Religion Zoroastrianism Capital Ctesiphon Sovereigns Shahanshah of the Iran (Eranshahr) First Ruler Ardashir I Last Ruler Yazdegerd III Establishment 224 AD Dissolution 651 AD Part of the History of... Derafsh Kaviani, one of the nationalist symbols introduced by Ferdowsi. ... Current flag of the Islamic republic of Iran, introduced in 1980. ...

References and Bibliography