A black flag bearing Arabic script held up at a cafe in central Sydney has become the subject of worldwide scrutiny for the clues it might yield to the motivation behind the hostage-taking.
The distinctive banner was held up to the window by people inside the Lindt chocolate cafe, where a gunman has taken an unknown number of hostages.
Its white-on-black lettering resembles that seen on flags flown by Islamic State (IS), the murderous faction which has conquered swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria in recent months, and other Islamist terror organisations such as al Qaeda.
But it is not thought to be an actual IS flag.
Dr Matthew Gray, from the Centre of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Canberra, said he believed it to be the Shahada, or declaration of faith.
He said it was similar but not identical to that used by IS.
"It's based around a black flag with white text that supposedly the Prophet Muhammad would carry, including into battle when he was fighting on behalf of the religion," Dr Gray told Sky News.
"This banner takes different forms. It looks vaguely like the IS flag.
"The one we're seeing in the window is a little bit different. The IS flag has just the beginning of the Shahada at the top, whereas this one has what looks to me like it could have the full Shahada, the full declaration of faith on the bottom of the flag.
"The text translates to 'There's no God except Allah and Muhammad is his prophet.' This is the first fundamental tenet of Islam. It's what you say to convert to Islam and at prayer time.
"It's a standard statement but when it's used in this context it's got a more military connotation. There are various groups that use a variety of this flag.
"It's got that connotation of the bearer of the flag marching into war."
The statement is considered the first of Islam's five pillars of faith.
A grainy image of a man thought to be keeping the hostages at gunpoint taken by Channel 7 News cameras also shows him wearing a black bandana with white writing on it.
The script is not clear enough to make out exactly what it says, but some Arabic speakers on social media claimed it also mentioned the word 'Muhammad' and words pledging allegiance to Islam.
As well as the flag held up by customers, another Arabic flag has been seen inside the cafe.
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