FIFA barred the Iran flag bearing the Lion and Sun from 2026 World Cup venues, and security moved to enforce the ban at Iran’s match against New Zealand on June 15 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Supporters were told to put the flags away or have them confiscated as they entered the queues outside the ground.
The current Iranian flag, used by the national team and shown in FIFA’s official tournament graphics, is the green, white and red tricolor adopted on July 29, 1980. Its inner green and red bands repeat the phrase “Allahu Akbar” 22 times in angular Kufic script.
SoFi Stadium June 15
At the New Zealand match, hundreds carried Lion and Sun flags anyway. Security guards also asked some supporters to remove T-shirts bearing the pre-revolution design, putting the ban into practice at the stadium rather than leaving it as a rule on paper.
Several hundred Iranian Americans gathered outside the ground to protest. The dispute landed in public view because the pre-revolution Lion and Sun symbol was treated by FIFA as political, while many in the diaspora regard it as a national identity symbol separate from the Islamic Republic.
Iran and the Lion and Sun
The Lion and Sun represented Iran for decades before 1979. It kept the same green, white and red bands as the current flag, but carried a standing lion with a sword and a sun behind it; an imperial crown often sat above it under the Pahlavi dynasty.
After the Islamic Revolution toppled the monarchy, the new government removed the Lion and Sun and replaced it with the present-day emblem in 1980. FIFA’s code of conduct prohibits banners, flags, fliers, apparel and other paraphernalia that are of a political, offensive and/or discriminatory nature, and FIFA applied that rule to the Lion and Sun flag at World Cup venues.
Los Angeles Hearing
A legal challenge argued that displaying the flag was protected free speech, but a Los Angeles judge upheld the ban after an emergency hearing. That ruling left the June 15 enforcement in place for fans who tried to bring the pre-revolution flag into the stadium.
For supporters at future World Cup venues, the practical choice is now plain: leave the Lion and Sun flag away from the entrance or risk losing it to security. The June 15 scene showed that the rule would be enforced at the gate, not debated after kickoff.
