Tojikī: @"According to information supplied by Abu Mujahid of the Taliban about the national flag, the ratio is 1:2 and the Arabic writing on it is black not green. This source said that the one in black is the official flag, and that it was introduced two days before the date in Smith 1997k [Whitney Smith, New flags: Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, The Flag Bulletin XXXVI-5 = 177, 1997], i.e. on October 25, 1997. It was shown at the Taliban's New York Office website." (Jaume Ollé, October 1997 - April 1998)

On the question whether the Taliban flew a white flag with the shahada inscribed in green (as claimed by Smith 1997):

• "This flag [i.e. the one with green writing] was used to illustrate November 2001 articles on Afghanistan in the news magazine Der Spiegel. I wrote an e-mail to them pointing to the error; as an answer they told me, that (my translation) 'from our documentation we can tell, that both versions (with green or black inscription) have been used. However, it is true, that the black inscription seems to be used more frequently now'." (Marcus Schmöger, 18 November 2001).