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 ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, officially the Turkish flag (), is a red

flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

featuring a white

crescent and star The conjoined representation of a Star (heraldry), star and a crescent is used in various historical contexts, including as a prominent symbol of the Ottoman Empire, and in contemporary times, as a national symbol by some countries, and by some ...

on its emblem, based on the 18th-century

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 ...

flag. The flag is often called "the red flag" (), and is referred to as "the red banner" () in the Turkish national anthem. The measures, geometric proportions, and exact tone of red of the flag of Turkey were legally standardized with the Turkish Flag Law on 29 May 1936.

History

The

star and crescent The conjoined representation of a star and a crescent is used in various historical contexts, including as a prominent symbol of the Ottoman Empire, and in contemporary times, as a national symbol by some countries, and by some Muslims as a sym ...

design appears on Ottoman flags beginning in the late 18th or early 19th century. The white star and crescent moon on red as the flag of the Ottoman Empire were introduced in 1844. After the declaration of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in 1923, the new administrative regime maintained the last flag of the

. Proportional standardizations were introduced in the Turkish Flag Law of 1936.

Legal basis

Fundamentals of the Turkish flag were laid down by Turkish Flag Law No. 2994 on 29 May 1936 during the Republic period of Turkey. Turkish Flag Regulation No. 2/7175 dated 28 July 1937, and Supplementary Regulation No. 11604/2 dated 29 July 1939, were enacted to describe how the flag law would be implemented. The Turkish Flag Law No. 2893 dated 22 September 1983, and Published in the Official Gazette on 24 September 1983, was promulgated six months after its publication. According to Article 9 of Law No. 2893, a statute including the fundamentals of the implementation was also published.

Usage in the Republic of Cyprus

According to the

Constitution of Cyprus The Constitution of Cyprus is a document, ratified on August 16, 1960, that serves as the Supreme Law of the Republic of Cyprus (Suprema Lex Cypri) defining the system of government of the Cypriot Republic and the civil liberties for the Cypriot ...

, the community authorities and their institutions have the right to hoist the Turkish flag (as well as the

Greek flag The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the Blue-and-White (, ) or the Cyan-and-White (, ), is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has 5 equal horizontal stripes of blue alternating with white. There ...

) alongside the

flag of Cyprus The flag of Cyprus (; ) came into use on 16 August 1960, under the Zürich and London Agreements, whereby a constitution was drafted and Cyprus was proclaimed an independent state. The flag was designed by Turkish Cypriot artist İsmet Güney. T ...

during the holidays. Any citizen may, without any restriction, fly the Greek or Turkish flag, or both, next to the flag of Cyprus.

Construction

Dimensions

The specification below, given by Turkish Flag Law, implies that the distance between (the left edge of) the inner circle of the crescent and a vertical line connecting the two pointed ends of the crescent is G = 0.34875 G; thus, the left point of the star intrudes about 0.0154 G beyond that line.

Display and use

State institutions

The flag is always displayed prominently in state institutions from schools to ministries. The Beştepe Presidential Complex,

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, ministries, schools, military, councils, governors buildings, muhtar's offices, bridges, airports, and every state owned building in the country features one or more flags of Turkey.

Uniforms

On military uniforms the flag is displayed on a patch either on the right shoulder or on the front of the uniform. Helmets can display the flag too on the front or the sides. Flight suits, navy uniforms, Jandarma uniforms and others feature the flag on shoulder patches or helmets. Along with uniforms several emblems and patches display the flag with prominence or minor alteration.

Days of display

Turkey celebrates many national events such as battle victories and

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially calle ...

. People come to the streets with their flags to celebrate such days. On other occasions the public uses the flag heavily when protesting or commemorating certain events or deaths respectively. Statues and monuments may be draped with the flag while marches and songs are played. On television screens the flag is displayed in celebration of such events too with the portrait of Atatürk next to it. The flag may also be presented at half staff in mourning of tragic events or important days.

Funerals

The flag has a prominent display on state and military funerals. A burial flag is always draped over the deceased coffin and is carried by the

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. Not to be confused with civilian police, who are legally part of the civilian populace. In wartime operations, the military police may supp ...

or relatives of the deceased. Soldiers of all types and the Presidential Guard also carry the coffin at times. Many attendees also feature the flag on their lapels along with an image of the deceased.

Gallery

File:Flags of Turkey and Northern Cyprus - Northern Nicosia - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus - 01 (28439610076).jpg, Flag of Turkey and

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the Geography of Cyprus, island of Cyprus. It is List of states with limited recognition, recognis ...

File:Atatürk schoolroom wall.jpg, The flag is prominently displayed in classrooms and any and all state institutions. File:İsmet İnönü Hatay'da (1939).jpg, The Turkish flag brought upon the annexation of

Hatay Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, ...

. File:Turkish Republic Day 2012 02.JPG, Celebration of

File:2010 Opening Ceremony - Turkey entering cropped.jpg, Opening ceremony of the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

File:Turkey flag.jpg, Turkish flag by the

15 July Martyrs Bridge The Bosphorus Bridge (), known officially as the 15 July Martyrs Bridge () and colloquially as the First Bridge (), is the oldest and southernmost of the three suspension bridges spanning the Bosphorus strait (Turkish: ''Boğaziçi'') in Istanb ...

File:The new embassy of Turkey in Mogadishu.jpeg, The Turkish Embassy in Somalia File:Turkish flags at half staff.jpg, Turkish flags at half mast, commemorating the

2016 Atatürk Airport attack The Atatürk Airport attack, consisting of shootings and suicide bombings, occurred on 28 June 2016 at Atatürk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. Gunmen armed with automatic weapons and explosive belts staged a simultaneous attack at the internation ...

Flag of Hatay.svg, Flag of the Hatay State

Notes and references

External links

Türk Bayrağı Kanunu
the Turkish text of the Turkish Flag Law No. 2893 dated September 22, 1983, establishing the proportions, production, and rules of usage of the flag of Turkey * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flag of Turkey

National symbols of Turkey

Flags of Cyprus