India, Jan. 10 -- The social networking website X (formerly Twitter) replaced Iran's official flag emoji with the pre-revolution Lion-and-Sun emblem (Shir-o-Khurshid) on January 9, 2026, even as anti-government protests rock the country.

The Lion-and-Sun symbol has been used for centuries by Iranian monarchs or Shahenshahs as symbols of their authority. It was replaced after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran on the nation's flag with a new symbol, the current one made up of four crescents and a central vertical line, a stylised calligraphic rendering of the Arabic word "Allah", meaning God, according to The Week.

Interestingly, the Lion-and-Sun also featured on the standard of South Asia's Mughal Empire. Which is not as surprising as ...