BAGHDAD — During periods of social unrest, controversy grows over questions of identity. The struggle over flags in Iraq is a symbolic conflict that reflects a deeper one plaguing Iraqi society, which still has not been able to agree on a national identity that brings together the different religions, tribes and sects.

In Sinjar, the hub of the Yazidi minority, a conflict broke out Nov. 13 among the different Kurdish forces that took part in the fighting to liberate the city from the Islamic State. These forces included the Kurdistan Workers Party, the peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Region and Yazidi-affiliated local forces. Trouble arose when the various forces wanted to raise their flags at government buildings in the city to symbolize their taking control over the city.

The previous day, conflicts arose in the district of Tuz Khormato between Kurdish peshmerga forces and Shiite forces with the Popular Mobilization Units. As individuals and groups, both sides burned Kurdish and Iraqi flags. Some Kurds posted videos to Facebook of themselves burning the Iraqi flag. Arab groups spread Kurdish flags in the streets and took photos of people burning them and cars running them over.

The newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Nov. 23, “This phenomenon foreshadows the end of the Shiite-Kurdish alliance in Iraq.” This alliance was one of the main factors that led to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003 and has formed the successive governments that have ruled Iraq to date.