Dozens of soccer fans displayed Iran’s pre-revolutionary Lion and Sun flag at the country’s World Cup opener in defiance of FIFA, which won a court hearing allowing it to prohibit the symbol inside venues. The Lion and Sun flag has become a mark of resistance to repressive theocratic rule in Iran.

A lawsuit has been filed in California against FIFA's ban on the flag.

When Iran takes to the field on Monday for the first game of its World Cup, Sara Barahman will be among the thousands of protesters outside the stadium waving a very specific…