The

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

(), also known as the Tricolour (), consists of three horizontal bands of equal width, red on the top, blue in the middle, and orange on the bottom. The Armenian

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

adopted the current flag on 24 August 1990. On 15 June 2006, the Law on the National Flag of Armenia, governing its usage, was passed by the

National Assembly of Armenia The National Assembly of Armenia (, ''Hayastani Hanrapetyut'yan Azgayin zhoghov'' or simply Ազգային ժողով, ԱԺ, ''Azgayin Zhoghov'', ''AZh''), also informally referred to as the Parliament of Armenia (խորհրդարան, ''khor ...

. Throughout history, there have been many variations of the Armenian flag. In ancient times, Armenian dynasties were represented by different symbolic animals displayed on their flags. In the twentieth century, various

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

flags represented the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...

. The meanings of the colours are interpreted in many different ways. The red stands for the

Armenian highlands The Armenian highlands (; also known as the Armenian upland, Armenian plateau, or Armenian tableland)Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: ...

, the Armenian people's continued struggle for survival, maintenance of the

Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and Armenia's independence and freedom, blue is for the Armenian peaceful skies, and orange represents the nation's talent and hard-work.

Design

The symbolism of the flag's colors is officially given in the 2006 law on the National Flag of Armenia: In 2012, the Armenian National Institute of Standards (SARM) issued specifications about the construction and colours on the national flag:

History

Today's

tricolour A triband is a vexillological style which consists of three stripes arranged to form a flag. These stripes may be two or three colours, and may be charged with an emblem in the middle stripe. Not all tribands are tricolour flags, which requires t ...

flag bears little resemblance to the earliest Armenian 'flags'. In ancient times, armies went into battle behind carvings mounted on poles. The carvings might represent a dragon, an eagle, a lion or "some mysterious object of the gods".

Middle Ages

During the invasion of the Arabs, despite stronger resistance than even the Persian, Armenia came under control

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

, and on its territory the

Armenian Emirate Arminiya, also known as the Ostikanate of Arminiya (, ''Hayastani ostikanut'yun'') or the Emirate of Armenia (, ''imārat armīniya''), was a political and geographic designation given by the Muslim Arabs to the lands of Greater Armenia, Caucas ...

was created, stretching from modern Baku and Derbent in the east to the sources of the Euphrates in the west and from the Terek River in the north to Lake Urmia in the south. The emirate received a flag, which is a black cloth without any additional elements on it. In 885, Armenia gained independence and the flag, which is a dark red canvas with the image of a white leopard and a Christian cross on it. Now the "Ani leopard" from this flag is also an element of the flag and coat of arms of the second largest city and cultural capital of Armenia -

Gyumri Gyumri (, ) is an urban municipal community and the List of cities and towns in Armenia, second-largest city in Armenia, serving as the administrative center of Shirak Province in the northwestern part of the country. By the end of the 19th centur ...

. Unlike the flags of

Greater Armenia Greater Armenia may refer to: * Ancient Armenia, independent from 331 BC to 428 АD, known as Greater Armenia (or "Armenia Major") to distinguish it from Roman-controlled Lesser Armenia (or "Armenia Minor") * United Armenia, a political goal of ...

, the flag of

Armenian Kingdom The Kingdom of Greater Armenia or simply Greater Armenia or Armenia Major ( '; ), sometimes referred to as the Armenian Empire under Tigranes the Great, Tigranes II, was an Armenians, Armenian kingdom in the Ancient Near East which existed fro ...

was not the flag of the ruling dynasty. One of the first atlases to contain an Armenian state, a 1339 map by

Angelino Dulcert Angelino Dulcert (floruit, fl. 1339), probably the same person known as Angelino de Dalorto (floruit, fl. 1320s), and whose real name was probably Angelino de Dulceto or Dulceti or possibly Angelí Dolcet, was an Italian people, Italian-Majorcan ca ...

depicts the

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian ...

with two flags. The first flag is that of the flag of Ayas or Lajazzo and has a white field, with a red animal in the center. The second is the flag of Lamos has a black field, broken by a grid of white crosses. The flag of Lamos would later appear in the 1375

Catalan Atlas The Catalan Atlas (, ) is a medieval world map, or mappa mundi, probably created in the late 1370s or the early 1380s (often conventionally dated 1375), that has been described as the most important map of the Middle Ages in the Catalan language, ...

along with the flag of Alexandretta which has a white field with a red animal in the center, created the same year the Kingdom of Cilicia fell to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. Another variation of the flag of Ayas would appear on the 1325 portolan chart of Angelino de Dalorto, featuring a red background with a white animal in the center and black stripes. On a Jorge Aguiar's portolan chart, Alexandretta would be featured again with a different scheme, red and yellow diagonal stripes. Sebastia was also featured on the

and Dulcert Atlas, with the right side of the flag boasting a white square with a red cross and for smaller red crosses, similar to the modern flag of Georgia, with a yellow section attached to the left side bearing a red square, that of the

Ilkhanate The Ilkhanate or Il-khanate was a Mongol khanate founded in the southwestern territories of the Mongol Empire. It was ruled by the Il-Khans or Ilkhanids (), and known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (). The Ilkhanid realm was officially known ...

, most likely representing Ilkhanate occupation. On a 1428 atlas by Johas de Villadestes kept in the Topkapi Museum, the flags of

Corycus Corycus (; also transliterated Corycos or Korykos; ; , lit. "maiden castle") was an ancient city in Cilicia Trachaea, Anatolia, located at the mouth of the valley called Şeytan deresi; the site is now occupied by the town of Kızkalesi (for ...

, Alexandretta, and Tarson appear. With Alexandretta bearing a yellow flag with a green circle and yellow lion in the center, Corycus bearing a black field with a large white cross and four smaller white crosses in the open black fields, and Tarson bearing a brown field with, cross hatched on the right side with black stripes and overlated with seven gold crosses, while the right remains brown and bears two gold crosses. According to the

Book of Knowledge of All Kingdoms The or ''Book of Knowledge of All Kingdoms'', also known as the ''Book of All Kingdoms'', is an anonymous 14th-century Castilian geographical and armorial manual (dated to ). It is written in the form of imaginary autobiographical travelogue ...

, the flag of Cilician Armenia is show with the bottom half gray with five gold crowns or

Fleur-de-lis The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

with the top of the flag being white with a large red cross and four smaller crosses similar to the

Jerusalem cross The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold cross", or "cross-and-crosslets" and the "Crusader's cross") is a heraldic cross and Christian cross variant consisting of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each ...

. The flag of Sebastia is also recorded in the same source with three given variants, all of which feature a white background with a red cross dividing the white and four smaller red crosses in the spaces. The flag of Corycus is also found in the

as well with the same design previously described. In a Portuguese armorial produced in 1416, the flag of

Cilician Armenia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenians, Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages b ...

under the

House of Lusignan The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of France, French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Kingdom of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Kingdom of Cyprus, Cyprus, and Kingd ...

is shown. The banner divided into four parts, the top left depicting a gray background with a golden

, the top right showing a red lion

rampant In heraldry, the term attitude describes the ''position'' in which a figure (animal or human) is emblazoned as a Charge (heraldry), charge, a Supporter (heraldry), supporter, or as a Crest (heraldry), crest. The attitude of a heraldic figure alwa ...

on top of a striped blue and white background representing the

Lusignans The House of Lusignan ( ; ) was a royal house of French origin, which at various times ruled several principalities in Europe and the Levant, including the kingdoms of Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Armenia, from the 12th through the 15th centuries dur ...

, the bottom right showing a white background with a red lion rampnt, and crowned with a golden crown representing the

Rubenids The Rubenids () or Roupenids were an Armenian dynasty who dominated parts of Cilicia, and who established the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. The dynasty takes its name from its founder, the Armenian prince Ruben I. The Rubenids were princes, later ...

, and the bottom left showing a red background with a yellow or gold lion with a crown representing the

Hethumids The Hethumids ( Hethumian) (also spelled Hetoumids or Het'umids), also known as the House of Lampron (after Lampron castle), were an Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus ...

. File:Flag_and_seal_of_Leo_I_of_Armenia.png, The flag and seal of

Leo I, King of Armenia Leo II (; 1150 – 2 May 1219) was the tenth lord of Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, Armenian Cilicia, ruling from 1187 to 1219, and the first king to be crowned, in 1198/9 (sometimes known as Levon I the Magnificent). Leo eagerly led his kingdom al ...

that is kept in the

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

File:Flag_of_Sargis_Pitsak.png, The flag of Sargis Pitsak File:Flag_of_Cilicia_as_seen_in_the_Book_of_Knowledge_of_all_the_kingdoms,_lands,_and_lordships.png, Flag of the

as seen in the

File:Flag_of_Cilicia_recorded_in_the_Book_of_Knowledge_of_all_the_kingdoms,_lands,_and_lordships.png, Flag of the

as recorded by an unknown Franciscan priest File:Flag_of_Lusignan_Armenia_in_Armorial_Latin_MS_28.png, The flag of the

under the

according to Armorial Latin MS 28 by a Portuguese herald (1416) File:Flag_of_Cilician_Armenia_1563.png, Flag attributed to Cilician Armenia as shown on Diogo Homem's Chart (1563) File:Royal_Standard_of_the_Principality_of_Khachen_(1214-1261).svg, Reconstruction of the Royal Standard of Grand Prince Hasan-Jalalyan Vahtangian (1214−1261) File:Flag_of_Hasan-Jalalians.svg, Reconstruction of the flag of the

Hasan-Jalalyan Hasan-Jalalyan ( is a medieval Armenian dynasty that ruled over parts of the South Caucasus. From the early thirteenth century, the family held sway in Khachen (Greater Artsakh) in what are now the regions of lower Karabakh, Nagorno-Karabakh, ...

dynasty (1214−) File:Armenian_Cilicia_(Catalan_Atlas,_1375).png, The flag of medieval Alexandretta, a port city of

, as shown on the

, now modern

İskenderun İskenderun (), historically known as Alexandretta (, ) and Scanderoon, is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is 247 km2, and its population is 251,682 (2022). It is on the Mediterranean coas ...

(1375) File:Flag_of_Alexandretta_Jorge_Aguiar_Atlas.png, The flag of Alexandretta as shown on the Jorge Aguiar atlas, now modern

(1492) File:Armenian_Cilicia_with_crosses_(Catalan_Atlas,_1375).png, The flag of medieval Lamos, a port city of the

, as shown on the Catalan Atlas (1375) File:Flag_of_Korikos.png, The flag of medieval

, a port city of

, shown on the Villadestes atlas kept in the Topkapi Museum, as well as in the

(1428) File:Flag_of_Tarson.png, The flag of medieval Tarson, a port city of the

, as shown on the Villadestes atlas kept in the Topkapi Museum, now modern Tarsus (1428) File:Flag_of_Ayas,_Cilicia.png, The flag of Medieval Ayas/Lajazzo, a port city of Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, as shown on the Dulcert atlas, now modern

Yumurtalık Yumurtalık (), formerly called Aegeae, Ayas, Lyeys or Laiazzo, is a municipality and district of Adana Province, Turkey. Its area is 447 km2, and its population is 17,654 (2022). It is a Mediterranean port and resort town at a distance of ab ...

(1339) File:Flag_of_Ayas_as_per_Dalorto.png, The flag of Ayas as shown on the Dalaroto atlas, now modern

(1325) File:Flag_of_Sebastia_as_seen_in_the_Book_of_Knowledge_of_all_the_kingdoms,_lands,_and_lordships.png, One of the flags of Sebastia as seen in the

, now modern