The correspondence may originally have been based on a learned interpretation of the "Shahnameh" references to "the Sun of Iran" and "the Moon of the Turanians". Since the crescent moon had been adopted as the dynastic (and ultimately national) emblem of the Ottoman sultans, who were the new sovereigns of Rum, the Safavids of Iran, needing to have a dynastic and national emblem of their own, chose the Lion and Sun motif. The sun had further important meanings for the Safavid world, where time was organized around a solar calendar, in contrast to the Arabo-Islamic lunar system. In the zodiac the sun is linked to Leo; for the Safavids the Lion and Sun symbol conveyed the double meaning of the royal and holy figure of the "shah" (Jamshid and Ali), the auspicious astrological configuration bringing the cosmic pair and the earthly—king and "imam"—together. Regarding the Safavid understanding of the Lion and Sun motif, Shahbazi suggests that "the Safavids had reinterpreted the lion as symbolizing Imam ʿAlī and the sun as typifying the 'glory of religion', a substitute for the ancient "farr-e dīn"." They reintroduced the ancient concept of God-given glory ("farr") to justify their rulership, attributing these qualities to Ali while tracing the king's genealogy through the Shia Fourth Imam's mother to the royal Sassanian house. The Afsharid dynasty (1736–1796) had two royal standards, one with red, white, and blue stripes and one with red, blue, white, and yellow stripes. Nader Shah's personal flag was a yellow pennant with a red border and a lion and sun emblem in the centre. All three of these flags were triangular in shape. Nader Shah consciously avoided the using the colour green, as green was associated with Shia Islam and the Safavid dynasty. Navy Admiral flag being a white ground with a red Persian Sword in the middle. The state flag of the Zand dynasty was a white triangular pennant with a green border and a gold lion and sun in the centre. Another version included the same design but with green and red. Unlike their Zand and Afsharid predecessors, the Qajar rulers used rectangular flags. The flag of Mohammad Khan Qajar was red with a gold lion and sun inside of a pale yellow circle. Fat′h Ali Shah adopted a lion emblem on a plain red field as his war flag.