Persian historians tell of a famous standard carried from the mythical time of Zohak to that of the last of the Pehlevi kings.

Their story is that Kawah, a blacksmith, raised a successful revolt against the implacably cruel King Zohak in the earliest time of Persian sovereignty, and relieved the country from his terrible tyranny by putting him to death.

The victorious blacksmith then placed on the throne Faridun, a Prince of the Peshdadian dynasty, who adopted his apron, which had been the standard of revolt, as the royal banner of Persia.

As such it was said to be richly ornamented with jewels, to which every king, from Faridun to the last of the Pehlevi monarchs, added.

It was called the Durafsh-i-Kawah[1] (the Standard of Kawah), and continued to be the royal standard of Persia till the Mohammedan conquest, when it was taken in battle by Saad-e-Wakass, and sent to the Khalif Omar.