An ISIS photo report released in mid-October 2016 showcased some of their fighting against Iraqi forces in the Shirqat area of Iraq’s Salah Al-Din province. One photo showed the staging area of the ISIS contingent, with a desert-coloured up-armoured SVBIED. It wasn’t the vehicle itself that drew the viewers eye though, it was the exceptional nature in which it was decorated. The frontal slat armour of the SVBIED had been decorated with an assortment of different brightly coloured flowers.



At first glance, the floral mount seemed absurd. Why would someone eagerly racing towards imminent death in a rolling bomb take the time to arrange such an ornate display? It turns out there's a twisted logic to this floral effort, but it has more to do with the suicide bomber himself than the chosen vessel used in the attack. In order to understand it, it’s important to realise that regardless of how wrong and murderous ISIS ideology may be, there are actually a multitude of religious customs and traditions that surround their execution of suicide attacks.

First we must understand that the jihadists themselves don’t refer to suicide bombings as "suicide bombings". Instead, they’re referred to as "Martyrdom Operations" (or "Amiliyat Istishhadiya")—a euphemism that shows just how pious the group considers these attacks to be. In the minds of ISIS fighters, sacrificing themselves for the “the cause” is one of the most noble deeds one could perform. It's also considered a sure-fire way of reaching heaven (or "Jannah"). Jannah, the Arabic for garden, is supposedly a lush paradise where scores of the purest virgin angels (known as "Houris") await the arrival of those who’ve managed to please God. But what does that have to do with flowers?

When used by jihadists, flowers typically represent both martyrdom and paradise. For example, yellow flowers often represent a sense of living, or, paradoxically, inevitable martyrdom and the reward of everlasting paradise. A white rose acts as a symbol of purity and martyrdom. Red roses, another symbol of martyrdom, signifies violent jihadist struggle more broadly. Other kinds of red flowers can also be used synonymously with the red rose.