Flag Of The Ottoman Empire (1844–1922)
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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 ...
used various flags and
naval ensign A naval ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by naval ships of various countries to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from a country's civil ensign or state ensign. It can also be known as a war ensign. A large v ...
s during its history. The
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 ...
came into use in the second half of the 18th century. A ' (decree) from 1793 required that the ships of the
Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...
were to use a red flag with the star and crescent in white. In 1844, a version of this flag, with a five-pointed star, was officially adopted as the Ottoman
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 ...
. The decision to adopt a national flag was part of the ''
Tanzimat The (, , lit. 'Reorganization') was a period of liberal reforms in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Edict of Gülhane of 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. Driven by reformist statesmen such as Mustafa Reşid Pash ...
'' reforms which aimed to modernize the Ottoman state in line with the laws and norms of contemporary European states and institutions. The star and crescent design later became a common element in the national flags of Ottoman successor states in the 20th century. The current
flag of Turkey The national flag of Turkey, officially the Turkish flag (), is a red flag featuring a white crescent and star on its emblem, based on the 18th-century Ottoman Empire flag. The flag is often called "the red flag" (), and is referred to as "the ...
is essentially the same as the late Ottoman flag, but has more specific legal standardizations (regarding its measures, geometric proportions, and exact tone of red) that were introduced with the Turkish Flag Law on 29 May 1936. Before the legal standardization, the star and crescent could have slightly varying slimness or positioning depending on the rendition.


Early flag

Pre-modern Ottoman armies used the horse-tail standard or '' tugh'' rather than flags. Such standards remained in use alongside flags until the 19th century. A depiction of a tugh appears in the ' by
Joseph Pitton de Tournefort Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (5 June 165628 December 1708) was a French botanist, notable as the first to make a clear definition of the concept of genus for plants. Botanist Charles Plumier was his pupil and accompanied him on his voyages. Li ...
(1718). War flags came into use by the 16th century. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Ottoman war flags often depicted the bifurcated ''
Zulfiqar Zulfiqar or Zulfaqar (, ), also spelled ''Zu al-Faqar'', ''Zulfakar'', ''Dhu al-Faqar'', or ''Dhulfaqar)'', is the sword of Ali, Ali ibn Abi Talib that was distinguished by having a double blade. Middle Eastern weapons are commonly inscribed wi ...
'' sword, often misinterpreted in Western literature as showing a pair of
scissors Scissors are hand-operated shearing tools. A pair of scissors consists of a pair of blades pivoted so that the sharpened edges slide against each other when the handles (bows) opposite to the pivot are closed. Scissors are used for cutting var ...
. The
crescent A crescent shape (, ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase (as it appears in the northern hemisphere) in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. In Hindu iconography, Hind ...
symbol appears in flags attributed to
Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
from as early as the 14th century ('), long before Tunis fell under Ottoman rule in 1574. But the crescent as a symbol also had 14th-century associations with the Ottoman military and millennium-long associations with the city of Istanbul, which became the Ottoman capital after its conquest in 1453. The Spanish Navy Museum in Madrid shows two Ottoman naval flags dated 1613; both are swallow-tailed, one green with a white crescent near the hoist, the other white with two red stripes near the edges of the flag and a red crescent near the hoist. File:Szigetvár before the siege.jpg, Various Ottoman flags and ''tughs'' displayed before the
Siege of Szigetvár The siege of Szigetvár or the Battle of Szigeth (pronunciation: siɡɛtvaːr ; ; ) was an Ottoman siege of the fortress of Szigetvár in the Kingdom of Hungary. The fort had blocked Sultan Suleiman's line of advance towards Vienna in 156 ...
in 1566 File:Bremen, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, ms. Or. 9, fol. 45r.jpg, Plain red banners for the Sultan's retinue. From the ''Turkish Costume Book'' by Lambert de Vos, 1574. File:Assalto per mare e per terra al isola, e S. Michele. 15.07.1565.png, Ottoman flags in a 1581 fresco by Matteo Pérez depicting the
Great Siege of Malta The Great Siege of Malta (Maltese language, Maltese: ''L-Assedju l-Kbir'') occurred in 1565 when the Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer the island of Malta, then held by the Knights Hospitaller. The siege lasted nearly four months, from 18 May t ...
File:Zulfikar flag.svg, Zulfikar flag typically in use during the 16th and 17th centuries. The design is a rough approximation of the Zulfikar flag used by Selim I in the 1510s. File:Zulfiqar flag at Guruslău (1601).svg, ''Zulfiqar'' flag captured during the Battle of Guruslău in 1601 File:Coat of arms of Moldavia under Scarlat Callimachi, Sfântul Spiridon version.svg,
Coat of arms of Moldavia The flag and coat of arms of Moldavia, one of the two Danubian Principalities, together with Wallachia, which formed the basis for the Romanian state, were subject to numerous changes throughout their history. History The recognised emblem belo ...
, . As supporters, flags which Sultan
Mahmud II Mahmud II (, ; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. Often described as the "Peter the Great of Turkey", Mahmud instituted extensive administrative, military, and fiscal reforms ...
() may have granted to Scarlat Callimachi ().


Crescent and star flag

The star and crescent design appears on Ottoman flags beginning in the late 18th or early 19th century. The white star and crescent moon with a red background was introduced as the flag of the Ottoman Empire in 1844. File:Ottoman army banner in the 1721 Hamse.svg, Army banner with crescent, as depicted in a 1721 illustration to 'Ata'i's ''Hamse'' File:Blue Ottoman Flag.svg, "Blue Turks' flag", seen in flag charts File:Turkish Purple (Danker & Bowles).svg, "Turkish Purple flag", also used in 1780s charts File:1783 Ottoman Flag.svg, "Turks Standard", in ''Bowles's Universal Display of the Naval Flags of all Nations'' (1783) File:Konstantiniyye Naval Ensign.png, Naval flag of Konstantiniyye, also in ''Bowles's Universal Display of the Naval Flags of all Nations'' (1783) File:Ottoman army banner as rendered by Hochenleitter (1788).svg, Crescent flag reported during the war with Austria in 1788. This is the reverse side; the horns of the crescent are therefore pointing towards the hoist (the inverse of the later national flag). File:Flag of the Ottoman Empire (eight pointed star).svg, Eight-pointed star flag (after 1844) File:Ottoman tui 1877 romanian capture.jpg, A 19th century Ottoman tugh File:Battle of Mohács 1526.png,
Battle of Mohács The Battle of Mohács (; , ) took place on 29 August 1526 near Mohács, in the Kingdom of Hungary. It was fought between the forces of Hungary, led by King Louis II of Hungary, Louis II, and the invading Ottoman Empire, commanded by Suleima ...
painting by Johann Schreier, prepared in 1555. Prepared 29 years after the Battle of Mohács, this painting shows the Turkish Army using the Crescent-Star flag


Source of the Star and Crescent symbol

It has been suggested that the star-and-crescent used in Ottoman flags of the 19th century had been adopted from the Byzantine.
Franz Babinger Franz Babinger (15 January 1891 – Durrës, 23 June 1967) was a well-known German orientalist and historian of the Ottoman Empire, best known for his biography of the great Ottoman emperor Mehmed II, known as "the Conqueror", originally published ...
(1992) suggests this possibility, noting that the crescent alone has a much older tradition also with Turkic tribes in the interior of Asia. The crescent and star is found on the coinage of Byzantium since the 4th century BC and was depicted on Byzantine Empire's coins and shields of Christian warrior saints till the 13th century. Parsons (2007) notes that the star and crescent was not a widespread motive on the coinage of Byzantium at the time of the Ottoman conquest. Turkish historians tend to stress the antiquity of the ''crescent'' (not star-and-crescent) symbol among the early Turkic states in Asia.


Imperial standards

The imperial standard displayed the
sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
's
tughra A tughra (; ) is a calligraphy, calligraphic monogram, Seal (emblem), seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the Tamga, tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the co ...
, often on a pink or bright red background. File:Imperial standard of the Ottoman Sultan.svg, Imperial Standard of the Ottoman Sultan File:Naval standard of the Ottoman Sultan.svg,
Naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...
Standard of the Ottoman Sultan File:Soldiers 1900.png, Standards used by the
Ottoman Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire () was the armed forces of the Ottoman Empire. It was founded in 1299 and dissolved in 1922. Army The Military of the Ottoman Empire can be divided in five main periods. The foundation era covers the years ...
in 1900
The standard used by the last
Caliph A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...
,
Abdulmejid II ʻAbd al-Majīd (ALA-LC romanization of , ), also spelled as Abd ul Majid, Abd ul-Majid, Abd ol Majid, Abd ol-Majid, and Abdolmajid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Maj ...
(between 19 November 1922 – 3 March 1924) consisted of a green flag with a
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 ...
in white on a red oval background within a rayed ornament, all in white. File:Caliphate standard of Abdulmejid II (1922–1924).svg, Caliphate Standard of
Abdulmejid II ʻAbd al-Majīd (ALA-LC romanization of , ), also spelled as Abd ul Majid, Abd ul-Majid, Abd ol Majid, Abd ol-Majid, and Abdolmajid, is a Muslim male given name and, in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Maj ...


Army Flags and Standards with Shahada

The Ottoman army often used verses from the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
and
Shahada The ''Shahada'' ( ; , 'the testimony'), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is no Ilah, god but God in Islam, God ...
on their flags. This tradition continued during the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. When
Ottoman Turkey The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an 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 Central Euro ...
joined the war on the side of the Central Powers in 1914, it declared a jihad against the Entente States. The modern Ottoman Turkish army used the Ottoman state coat of arms on one side of their standard regimental flags and Shahada on the other. The Ottoman regimental flags consisted of gold writings and the state emblem on a red background. After the empire was abolished in 1922, this practice continued for a while in modern
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 ...
. File:HGM Türkische Standarte 1683.jpg, Standard of the Ottoman Army at
Battle of Vienna The Battle of Vienna took place at Kahlenberg Mountain near Vienna on 1683 after the city had been besieged by the Ottoman Empire for two months. The battle was fought by the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarchy) and the Polish–Li ...
(1683) File:Οθωμανικό λάβαρο το οποίο απέσπασαν οι Βενετοί ως τρόπαιο όταν εκ - Peeters Jacob - 1690.jpg, Ottoman Flag at Morea (1690) File:Hellenic War Museum Banners (27977335343).jpg, Ottoman Regimental Standards with Ottoman National Flag File:Ottoman Regiment Flag.svg, One Side of Ottoman Turkish Regimental Standard with
Shahada The ''Shahada'' ( ; , 'the testimony'), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is no Ilah, god but God in Islam, God ...
which used in
World War 1 World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
(1914) File:Ottoman regimental flag at Kanlisirt.jpg, Ottoman Turkish Regimental Standard with
Shahada The ''Shahada'' ( ; , 'the testimony'), also transliterated as ''Shahadah'', is an Islamic oath and creed, and one of the Five Pillars of Islam and part of the Adhan. It reads: "I bear witness that there is no Ilah, god but God in Islam, God ...
in Gallipoli Campaign(1915)


See also

*
Coat of arms of the Ottoman Empire Every sultan of the Ottoman Empire had his own monogram, called the ''tughra'', which served as a royal symbol. A coat of arms in the European heraldic sense was created in the late 19th century. Hampton Court requested from the Ottoman Empire a ...
*
Flag of Turkey The national flag of Turkey, officially the Turkish flag (), is a red flag featuring a white crescent and star on its emblem, based on the 18th-century Ottoman Empire flag. The flag is often called "the red flag" (), and is referred to as "the ...
*
List of Turkish flags This is a list of flags used historically and currently by the state of Turkey and its predecessor states. For a list of flags related to the Ottoman empire, see Flags of the Ottoman Empire. National flags Military flags Land Forces ...


References


External links

* * {{Ottoman Empire topics 1844 introductions 1844 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Culture of the Ottoman Empire Politics of the Ottoman Empire Ottoman
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 ...
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