Northern Cyprus Flag
Getting to know the flag of North Cyprus and South Cyprus
As you know, the island of Cyprus is divided into two parts, North Cyprus and South Cyprus. These two parts are separate countries and therefore each has its own flag. For this reason, in this article, we will examine the flag of North Cyprus and the flag of South Cyprus and the history of each.
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| Flag of South Cyprus | Flag of Northern Cyprus |
Flag of South Cyprus
The national flag of Cyprus was designed by the art teacher Ismet Goni on August 16, 1960, under the agreements of Zurich and London, and at that time Cyprus was declared an independent country.. (Below you can see a picture of this art teacher. ) The design of the flag deliberately used peaceful and neutral symbols in an attempt to show harmony between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, an idea that has not yet been realized. In 1963, the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities separated due to inter-Cypriot violence.
 | Ismet Goni was a Cypriot artist, cartoonist, teacher and painter. He is best known as the designer of the modern flag of the Republic of Cyprus, the national emblem of this country and the main lira of Cyprus in 1960. The flag that this teacher designed for Cyprus was unique, and it had the geographical map of the country of Cyprus on it. The Republic of Cyprus is the first country in the world to display a map on its flag. In 2008, Kosovo became the second country to display a map of its country on its national flag. |
The flag that Ismet designed for Cyprus shows the general shape of the island, with two olive branches below it (a symbol of peace between the two parts of the island) and a white background (another symbol of peace). Olive branches represent peace between Greece and Turkish Cypriots. The map on the flag is coppery orange, symbolizing the copper ore deposits on the island, from which it may have derived its name.
Flag of Northern Cyprus
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has its own national flag, based on the flag of Turkey, with inverted colors and two horizontal red stripes at the top and bottom of this flag. (See.) After unilaterally declaring independence in 1983, it was ratified in 1984 by North Cyprus, a self-proclaimed state recognized only by Turkey.
| The flag of Northern Cyprus is defined in Article 2 of the Flag Law of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus under these conditions: “The flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, under the conditions defined by law, is a red star and crescent on a white background and two longitudinal lines”. |
There is no official statement about the meaning of the flag, but it can be interpreted as a star and a crescent meaning being Turkish, the red color representing the blood of Turkish Cypriots, and the stripes representing Turkey (top) and Northern Cyprus (bottom). Since the current flag of Northern Cyprus was designed by this artist, the flag of Turkey has been used.
Flag of Northern Cyprus in the mountains of Kyrenia
Image of the 426 m (1,398 ft) long flag of Northern Cyprus on the edge of the Kyrenia Mountains, facing south. The star and crescent, the national emblem of Turkey, and next to it the quote “Ne Mutlu Türküm Diyene” (“How happy is he who says I am Turk”), is the motto of Kemalism. Located on the northern side of the Green Line in the divided capital of Nicosia, the inscription is widely visible in the south. (You can see its image below.). This work was protested by the Greek Cypriots. Because their belief is that this move can have a lot of negative effects on the environment.
Protesting the flag on Mount Girne
In 2010, Antigoni Papadopoulou, the Greek Cypriot representative in the European Parliament, submitted an official letter in writing to the European Union Commission about the Cypriot flag on the mountain. The lawsuit called it an environmental hazard because of the chemicals used and the energy wasted for the thousands of lights that are turned on at night. Also, the flag, which was lit for the first time on Greece’s national day, 28 October 2003, described an “unprecedented daily provocation” and a “hostile act” and called for sanctions against Turkey for its behavior. The commission promised to launch an investigation into the environmental impact but declined to comment on the political aspects
A lie about the North Cyprus flag
| In 2019, the flag falsely became the subject of a conspiracy theory, claiming that it was designed by Necmettin Erbakan, with the top line representing the Nile, the bottom representing the Euphrates, while the star and crescent represent “the land between The Nile and the Euphrates will not be for the Zionists as long as Turkey exists. This theory was based on claims that the two blue stripes on the Israeli flag represent the Nile and Euphrates rivers, and claims that Israel wishes to eventually occupy all available land. |
The evolution of the North Cyprus flag from the past to the present
The Turkish Cypriot Federal Government was formed on 13 February 1975 and existed until 15 October 1983, when the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established. That is why the Turkish flag was used at that time.
3 days after the declaration of independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a self-proclaimed country recognized only by Turkey, on November 18, 1983, the Council of Ministers of Northern Cyprus discussed the flag of the new country. It was decided to use the Cypriot flag with the Turkish flag in the canton (top left). However, this design has never been used. According to an article in Bulletin Flag, for the first four months of its existence, the Turkish flag was used as the official flag of Northern Cyprus, while Flag of the World reports that the Turkish flag was used with two white stripes.
The current flag of Cyprus
On November 23, 1983, the government officially requested a new flag for the country and asked all citizens and institutions to submit their suggestions on the new flag of Northern Cyprus. A design designed by Turkish Cypriot artist Emin Çizenel was adopted and officially adopted as the flag of Northern Cyprus on March 7, 1984 by Act No. 15 of the Constitution of Northern Cyprus. The North Cyprus flag law was passed on the same day. The official gazette published the flag on March 9, 1984.
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| The flag of Northern Cyprus now | The flag of Northern Cyprus in 1983 | Flag of Turkey |
Proposed national flag of Cyprus
The flag of the United Republic of Cyprus was chosen by a committee of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in early March 2004. Their plan was a proposal from the United Nations to change the structure of the Republic of Cyprus as a federation of two countries under the name “United Republic of Cyprus” to resolve the Cyprus disputes. . In early March 2004, a Greek and Turkish Cypriot committee selected a Spanish Fess flag consisting of three stripes of white, blue and red with an orange-yellow edge for the federation. The plan was accepted by the Turkish Cypriots, but rejected by the Greek Cypriots, so the plan was not implemented.
 | The flag of the United Republic of Cyprus chosen by a committee of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in early March 2004 |
The blue stripe represented the Greeks while the red stripe represented the Turks, the two major ethnic groups in Cyprus, and the yellow-orange stripe represented the copper, from which the island may have derived its name. The meaning of the white spot is not officially stated, but the interpretation is that it represents peace between the two communities. In the 2004 referendum, the plan was accepted by 65% of Turkish Cypriots but opposed by 76% of Greek Cypriots, so the plan was not implemented.
