The American flag, or parts thereof (such as the stars and stripes), are widely used in jihadi propaganda to evoke negative sentiments towards U.S. foreign policy and military campaigns. The stars and stripes are also used to color other important motifs or symbols, thereby linking the symbols to U.S. foreign policy and military intervention in the Muslim world. The message conveyed by the image is spelled out in the combination of elements and the title of the publication presented in the image: “al-yawm wa-ghadan, ya…” (“today and tomorrow, O…”). The phrase in the title is addressing the American flag that is going up in flames.
In May 2007, the group that produced the image, the Islamic Army in Iraq, joined the Reformation and Jihad Front, and later joined forces with the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance (al-Jabha el-Islamiya lil-Moqawama al-Iraqiya, or JAMI).
