The national flag of Cyprus ( el, Σημαία της Κύπρου, Simaía tis Kýprou; tr, Kıbrıs bayrağı) came into use on 16 August 1960, under the

Zürich and London Agreement , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

s, whereby a constitution was drafted and

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

was proclaimed an

independent state Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

. The flag was designed by artist İsmet Güney. The design of the flag deliberately employs peaceful and neutral symbols in an attempt to indicate harmony between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, an ideal that has not yet been realised. In 1963,

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 r ...

and

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...

communities separated because of

Cypriot intercommunal violence Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the ...

. The national flag features the shape of the entirety of the island, with two

olive branch The olive branch is a symbol of peace and victory associated with customs of ancient Greece and connected with supplication to gods and persons in power. It is found in most cultures of the Mediterranean basin and became associated with peace ...

es below (a symbol of peace between the island's two communities) on white (another symbol of peace). The olive branches signify peace between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The map on the flag is a copper-orange colour, symbolising the large deposits of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...

on the island, from which it may have received its name.

Creation

İsmet Vehit Güney - Turkish Cypriot Artist

The flag of the Republic of Cyprus was preceded by the flag of

British Cyprus British Cyprus was the island of Cyprus under the dominion of the British Empire, administered sequentially from 1878 to 1914 as a British protectorate, from 1914 to 1925 as a unilaterally annexed military occupation, and from 1925 to 1960 as a ...

. Upon independence, Cyprus adopted a new flag. Under the constitution, the flag should “have a neutral design and colour,” i.e. it should not include either blue or red colours (the colours of the

flag of Greece The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "blue and white one" ( el, Γαλανόλευκη, ) or the "sky blue and white" (, ), is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has nine equal horizontal stri ...

and the

flag of Turkey The national flag of Turkey, officially the Turkish flag ( tr, Türk bayrağı), is a red flag featuring a white star and crescent. The flag is often called "the red flag" (), and is referred to as "the red banner" () in the Turkish national an ...

), nor portray a

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

or a

crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hinduism, Lord Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his ...

. The original proposal, made by the former British colonial administration, featured a rust-brown K on a white field. It was rejected by the President

Makarios III Makarios III ( el, Μακάριος Γ΄; born Michael Christodoulou Mouskos) (Greek: Μιχαήλ Χριστοδούλου Μούσκος) (13 August 1913 – 3 August 1977) was a Cypriot politician, archbishop and primate who served as ...

and Vice-president

Fazil Küçük Fazil may refer to: Given name * Fazil (director) (born 1953), Indian filmmaker, producer and screenwriter * Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha (1635–1676), Ottoman grand vizier * Necip Fazıl Kısakürek (1904–1983), Turkish poet and activist * ...

, who preferred a flag proposed by İsmet Güney, a

artist. In the design of August 1960, the colour of the map is copper (Pantone 144-C). Both the crest and the two olive-tree leaves are olive green (Pantone 336-C). The background is white with the 3:5 ratio. In April 2006 the design was updated, the shape of the

es were slightly altered, its color was changed to Pantone 574, The copper color of the map was changed to Pantone 1385 and the ratio was changed to 3:2. Flags produced on Cyprus often differ from the original specifications, both regarding the size of the map and the colours used. The government announced in October 2005, that it would take steps to "start from scratch" and assure that only flags complying with the official specifications would be produced. Under 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 Republc and the civil liberties for the Cypriot ci ...

, the flag of Cyprus may be flown by state institutions, public corporations, and citizens of the country.

Use of the flags of Greece and Turkey

According to the constitution, the community authorities and their institutions have the right to hoist the

Greek flag The national flag of Greece, popularly referred to as the "blue and white one" ( el, Γαλανόλευκη, ) or the "sky blue and white" (, ), is officially recognised by Greece as one of its national symbols and has nine equal horizontal strip ...

or the

Turkish flag The national flag of Turkey, officially the Turkish flag ( tr, Türk bayrağı), is a red flag featuring a white star and crescent. The flag is often called "the red flag" (), and is referred to as "the red banner" () in the Turkish national a ...

alongside the flag of Cyprus during the holidays. Any citizen may, without any restriction, fly the Greek or Turkish flag, or both, next to the Cypriot flag at their residence or store. Other provisions also allow municipalities, educational institutions and the National Guard to do so as well. Since the de facto division of the island, consecutive to the 1974 invasion, the flag of Greece is the only of the two flown in the area under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Cyprus, due to the predominant presence of Greek-Cypriots in that part of the island. Similarly, the flag of Turkey is only observed in the area under the control of the

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Recog ...

(recognised only by Turkey). Lately, only the National Guard, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Defence and the Municipal authorities of the Republic of Cyprus fly the Greek flag alongside the Cypriot and EU flags.

Colors

Other flags

The flag of the unrecognised

is based on the

, with the colors reversed and two additional horizontal red stripes at the top and bottom. It was designed by Emin Çizenel.

Proposed national flag

Proposed flag of the United Cyprus Republic

Under the terms of the Annan Plan for Cyprus, a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

proposal to settle the

Cyprus dispute The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus dispute, Cyprus issue, Cyprus question or Cyprus conflict, is an ongoing dispute between Greek Cypriots in the south and Turkish Cypriots in the north. Initially, with the Modern history of Cyprus#In ...

, a new national flag would have been adopted by a reconstituted confederal republic of Cyprus. A competition was announced and the UN collecte
over 1000 proposals
until 17 February 2003. Some of the proposals can be found on the webpage
Cyprus seeks new flag
by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

Creation

Use of the flags of Greece and Turkey

Colors

Other flags

Proposed national flag

Gallery

See also

References

External links