The flag uses the four Pan-Arab colors (in addition to yellow), but was intended to move away from explicit Pan-Arab or Nasserite symbolism. The yellow sun represented the Kurdish minority and the red star of the "Star of Ishtar" symbol was used to represent Iraq's ancient heritage, as well as its minority Assyrian population.

Qasim promoted an "Iraq first" identity, emphasizing the country's historical status as the cradle of great pre-Arab civilizations. He deliberately added the Akkadian eight-point star of Ishtar to the national flag, and likewise incorporated the insignia of the sun god Shamash in Iraq's national emblem. -- http://www.meforum.org/518/requiem-for-arab-nationalism

According to [1] and [2], Iraqi Kurds prefer this flag to the 1963-2007 forms of the Iraqi national flag (with their Pan-Arab and Ba`thist associations).