In January 2008, a new Iraqi flag design was proposed primarily to remove the influence of Saddam Hussien's Ba'ath party rule. The new flag was confirmed by the Iraqi parliament. In this iteration, the three stars were removed, while the Takbir (the words Allaahu Akbar (Allah is Great)) was left written in green Kufic script.

The original flag had three stripes, of red, white, and black, with three green stars in the white stripe. The green stars were originally placed there for the proposed union of Iraq with Egypt and Syria, which both had flags with two stars in the middle at the time. Theirs would have presumably changed into three had the union with Iraq been accomplished. By 1961, however, the Union between Syria and Egypt had already fallen apart.