Voice of Iran Washington is proud to introduce an important evolution of our logo.
Along the iconic Space Needle and the wings of our Iranian identity, the words “LION AND SUN REVOLUTION” now appear in English and Persian.
This change is intentional.
It does not erase the movement that brought millions of people together under the words Woman, Life, Freedom (Zan, Zendegi, Azadi/Jin, Jiyan, Azadî)
It recognizes where Iran’s struggle stands today.
We Will Never Forget Woman, Life, Freedom
Following the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini, Woman, Life, Freedom became a cry heard around the world.
Women and girls stood at the forefront. Men joined them. Students, workers, artists, athletes, families, political prisoners, and Iranians throughout the diaspora joined them.
Women removed compulsory hijab in public. Young people confronted fear with extraordinary courage. Families of those killed refused to be silent. The world saw a generation openly challenging a regime that had controlled Iranian life for decades.
Those words will forever belong to this chapter of Iran’s history.
Changing the words on our logo does not mean abandoning Woman, Life, Freedom. We carry its meaning with us.
But the revolution has evolved.
The Islamic Republic Has Tried to Co-Opt What Women Won
There is another reality we cannot ignore.
After years of brutally punishing Iranian women for refusing compulsory hijab, the Islamic Republic and its supporters have increasingly attempted to appropriate the very imagery of freedom that women fought for.
Images of unveiled or loosely veiled women have appeared in regime-friendly spaces and propaganda while women elsewhere continue to face surveillance, arrest, intimidation, and punishment.
That does not mean the regime has successfully “stolen” Woman, Life, Freedom from the Iranian people.
It means something more revealing:
The Islamic Republic understands the power of what Iranian women accomplished, and has attempted to absorb, sanitize, and repurpose that imagery without surrendering the authoritarian system behind the oppression.
We refuse to allow superficial concessions or propaganda to redefine the revolution. The freedom to remove a hijab was never the final destination. It was evidence of something much larger: The Iranian people are no longer willing to be ruled by the Islamic Republic.
The Islamic Republic has tried to appropriate some of the movement’s victories and imagery for its own propaganda. A May 2026 IranWire investigation describes regime media suddenly showcasing unveiled or loosely veiled women at pro-government events while women elsewhere continued to face punishment for the very same behavior. IranWire characterized this as an attempt to redefine and co-opt one of the movement’s central achievements—the right of women to choose how they dress and live. (See Iran Accused of Using “Woman, Life, Freedom” Gains for Regime Optics)
Woman, Life, Freedom Was Never Just About the Hijab
Compulsory hijab became one of the most visible symbols of oppression, but the uprising quickly revealed demands far greater than a change in dress codes.
The Iranian people have demanded freedom of speech. Freedom of conscience. Equality for women. An end to executions and political imprisonment. An end to the violent suppression of dissent. An end to ideological rule. And ultimately, the right to decide who governs Iran.
The struggle is no longer about asking the Islamic Republic to become kinder. It is removing the Islamic Republic all together. That distinction matters.
From Resistance to Revolution
Woman, Life, Freedom gave voice to resistance.
It awakened the world to the courage of Iranian women and helped expose the true nature of the Islamic Republic. But today’s struggle cannot be reduced to one social issue, one demand, or one chapter of resistance. What began with the defiance of Iranian women has grown into an unmistakable national struggle over Iran itself.
Its government. Its identity. Its sovereignty. Its political prisoners. Its women. Its minorities. Its children. Its future generations. And the fundamental right of its people to choose what comes next. That is why we now use the word: REVOLUTION.
Revolution reflects the recognition that meaningful freedom requires a fundamental democratic transformation, and not another attempt to reform an authoritarian system that has denied Iranians their most basic rights for nearly half a century.
Why the Lion and Sun?
The Lion and Sun did not begin with a new demand for a change in government.
It is a historic Iranian symbol reaching deep into Iran’s cultural and national history, long predating the Islamic Republic. For many Iranians, its return represents something enormously important: The reclamation of an Iranian identity that the Islamic Republic did not create and does not own.
It represents continuity. Courage. National identity. And the idea that Iran belongs to its people—not to an ideology imposed upon them. For Voice of Iran Washington, that message is simple: Iran belongs to Iranians.
Not to the Islamic Republic. Not to the IRGC. Not to clerical authority. Not to any ideology imposed through force.
Iran belongs to its people.
Woman, Life, Freedom Describes the Values. The Lion and Sun Identifies the Nation.
There is no contradiction between honoring Woman, Life, Freedom and embracing the Lion and Sun Revolution. I, personally, see them as connected.
Woman, Life, Freedom describes the values at the heart of the revolution.
The dignity of women. The sanctity of life. And the right to live freely.
The Lion and Sun identifies the revolution as Iranian. This is our people reclaiming their country, their history, and their right to determine their future.
One does not erase the other. One carries the other forward.
This Is Bigger Than Left or Right
The Lion and Sun Revolution, as we use those words, is not about replacing one system of ideological domination with another. Nor does it require every Iranian to agree today about every detail of Iran’s future government.
Iranians have different political views. They have different visions for the future. Those differences should be decided through democratic participation, not imprisonment, execution, censorship, or force.
In a free Iran, those decisions must ultimately belong to the Iranian people. Our responsibility in the diaspora is not to erase legitimate differences. It is to stand together on what should no longer be negotiable: The Islamic Republic must not be allowed to dictate Iran’s future. The Iranian people must.
Our Logo Has Always Told a Story
Our logo brings together two places that are part of who we are.
The design of our logo deliberately brings our two worlds together. Every element of our logo carries meaning. The Space Needle is connected to Tehran’s Azadi Tower, creating a visual bridge between Washington State, where we advocate, and Iran, whose freedom remains at the heart of our mission.
The braided hair honors the women who ignited that chapter of the struggle, the Kurdish roots of “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî (Woman, Life, Freedom),” and the women who cut their hair in mourning, defiance, and protest. That history remains woven into our identity.
The green, white, and red reflect Iran, while the Persian and English lettering connect Iranians inside Iran with the diaspora. The new “Lion and Sun Revolution” wording represents the movement’s evolution, from resistance against oppression to a broader struggle to reclaim Iran and its future.
Woman, Life, Freedom is woven into our story. The Lion and Sun carries it forward.
We will continue using our freedom here to amplify those risking everything for freedom there.
The Revolution Belongs to the Iranian People
Our logo has changed because the movement has evolved. The Iranian people have endured enormous sacrifice. Families have buried their children. Prisoners continue to resist from behind bars. Mothers and fathers continue to demand justice. Women continue refusing to surrender their freedom. Young Iranians continue rejecting a system that has attempted to dictate every aspect of their lives.
Their struggle deserves more than sympathy. It deserves solidarity. It deserves action. And it deserves a vision of what comes next.
We Are Repeating Their Words
Our decision also reflects what we have increasingly witnessed inside Iran itself. Protesters have been heard chanting “Javid Shah” (“Long Live the Shah”) and students have raised the historic Lion and Sun flag, even at enormous personal risk.
Voice of Iran Washington does not exist to manufacture a message for Iran from the safety of the diaspora. Our purpose is to amplify the voices the Islamic Republic tries to silence. We do not claim that every Iranian shares the same political vision, but when people inside Iran risk their freedom, and their lives, to carry the Lion and Sun and shout these words, we believe the world should hear them.
(See Son of Iran’s toppled shah seeks a role as protests expand | Reuters and Iranian students mount further anti-regime protests and Iranians grieve defiantly 40 days after deadly crackdown | AP News)
We are not putting words in their mouths. We are repeating the words coming from Iran.
We now carry their meaning forward beneath a broader banner: LION AND SUN REVOLUTION
For women.
For life.
For freedom.
For dignity.
For democracy.
For Iran.
Voice of Iran Washington
Amplifying the voices of the Iranian people until Iran is free.