Red flag with country month and star. Heraldry of Turkey. National flag of Turkey

The red color of the Turkish flag originates from Umar, the ruler of the Arab Caliphate in - g. And the conqueror of Palestine, Egypt and Mesopotamia. In the XIV century. red became the color of the Ottoman Empire. The crescent moon with a star is a symbol of Islam.

It is noteworthy that initially the star was inside the month, which is incorrect from the point of view of astronomy (the star in this case was covered by the invisible part of the moon), therefore, at the beginning of the 20th century, according to the requirements of astronomers, it was taken out of the month. Although at the present time the flag contains some astronomical discrepancy - the "crescent" does not represent the phase of the Moon (which we can observe from the Earth every month), but the eclipse of the Moon by an incomprehensible object (in terms of the size and position of the orbit - not by the Earth) of a round shape (which is unnatural for asteroids). In a word, such a moon is impossible to observe from Earth now, and it was impossible to observe it for thousands of years earlier.

Some sources indicate that the crescent, considered a traditional symbol of Islam, appeared on Turkish flags in the middle of the 15th century. after the victorious battle at the Kosovo field, others clarify that it was borrowed from the emblem taken in the city of Constantinople (now Istanbul), others remind that the image of a crescent with the star of Jupiter was considered a horoscope of Sultan Osman (ruled at the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th centuries) , was the generic emblem of his dynasty.

True, the stars appeared on the flags of Turkey only at the beginning of the 19th century, then they were seven- and eight-pointed. The five-pointed star appeared in the city. For a long time, the sacred green color Prophet Muhammad, only in the city of Sultan Selim III ordered to legalize the color red.

By the time of its collapse in the city of the Ottoman Empire, it had a flag, on the red cloth of which the sacred image of a white crescent and a five-pointed star was repeated three times. The flag of the Republic of Turkey was installed in the city, which exists to this day. On May 29, it was officially approved in a ratio of 3: 2.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, on the coat of arms of Turkey, against the background of war trophies, a shield with a golden month in a green field flaunted. The Sultan's turban crowned the shield. Decades have passed, Turkey has become a secular republican state, the sultans have become a thing of the past. Nowadays, both on the coat of arms and on the flag of this state, the pattern is the same - a golden crescent moon with a star on a red field.

There are many legends about the origin of these symbols. One of them is associated with the distant 339 BC. BC, when the troops of Philip the Great, the father of the famous commander Alexander, surrounded the city of Byzantium, that is how Istanbul was called in antiquity. The siege was long and bloody, the inhabitants resisted desperately, many people died in the struggle for freedom. Then the enemy decided to undermine the impregnable fortress at night. But suddenly, due to heavy clouds, the moon shone and next to it a star, repeatedly reflected in pools of blood near the city walls. The sentinels on the towers noticed the enemy and raised the alarm. With heavy losses, Philip's soldiers retreated, and the city was saved. In memory of this event and as a symbol of freedom from invaders, the crescent moon with a star became the emblem of Byzantium. Centuries later, in 1453, the hordes of the Turkish Sultan captured the city, and then the entire Eastern Roman Empire. The emblem passed to the banner of the winners, and since then the crescent moon with a star flaunts on the flag of Turkey.

Flag of the Ottoman Empires

The state symbols of Turkey - the coat of arms and the flag - contain the image of a crescent and a five-pointed star in white on a red background.

Official interpretation. The history of the emergence of the modern flag of Turkey has several interpretations. Obvious can only be called the fact that the symbolism is inherited from Ottoman Empire- the state that existed on the territory of today's Turkey until 1923. Red became the color of the empire in the 14th century, and Turkish rulers placed a crescent moon with a star on the flag as the main sign of Islam.

The history of transformations. It is believed that the red color of the canvas of the Turkish flag is associated with the banners of the times of Umar, the sultan of the Arab Caliphate in the 7th century and the conqueror of the territories of Palestine, Mesopotamia and Egypt. For a long time, Turkish flags were green, according to the Islamic interpretation of this color as sacred. In 1793, red became the official symbol of Turkey by order of Sultan Selim III.

The star first appeared only at the beginning of the 19th century and was depicted as seven- or eight-pointed. In 1844, it became five-pointed.

Shortly before its collapse in 1918, the state flag of the Ottoman Empire was a red canvas with a threefold depiction of a five-pointed star and a crescent moon. In 1923, the modern flag of the Republic of Turkey was approved. In 1936, the proportions were officially established at 3: 2.

Theories and legends of origin. One of the myths connects the moment of the emergence of symbolism with the 339th year BC. BC, when the army of Philip the Great laid siege to Byzantium (modern Istanbul). The resistance of the population was long and fierce, a significant part of the city's inhabitants died. The adversary decided to undermine the fortress at night. Suddenly, a month came out from behind the clouds, and a star flashed next to it, reflected in the blood of the dead soldiers. The moon illuminated the enemy troops at the walls of the fortress, and the sentinels raised the alarm. With heavy losses, Philip's army retreated. In memory of this battle and as a symbol of the country's liberation from the invaders, the crescent and the star became the emblem of Byzantium. Several centuries later, in 1453, Turkish troops captured Constantinople, and then the entire territory of the Eastern Roman Empire. The winners adopted the emblem for their own flag, after which it has remained unchanged to this day.

According to another theory, the red color of the cloth corresponds to the old Turkish customs and symbolizes "sovereignty" or "power". White color months and stars means greatness, strength, purity and justice.

Until the beginning of the 20th century, a green circle and a month were depicted on the coat of arms of the Ottoman Empire against the background of the rays of a star. Under it was a shield decorated with golden months and stars and crowned with a sultan's turban. On both sides of the coat of arms were depicted the red banner of the Ottoman dynasty and the green banner of Islam, as well as the war trophies of the empire.

The modern Turkish Republic does not have an official state emblem. Instead, the emblem is often used - a red oval with a vertically positioned white crescent and a star. This symbol is similar to the state flag of the country and is complemented by the official name of the state in Turkish.

Modern symbols are respected among the population of the country and are placed in public and private institutions, as well as in private houses and apartments in Turkey.

The flag of Turkey is a red cloth with a white crescent and a white five pointed star located in the middle of the flag, offset to the flagpole.

Red is the traditional color of Islam and was used by the Ottoman Empire until its collapse in 1918, which formerly included Turkey. The crescent moon and star are ancient symbols of Islam and they are considered to be symbols of good luck. Red is also an important color in Turkish history, and the crescent and star, although they are symbols of Islam, were used in Asia Minor even before the advent of Islam.

A brief history of the flag of Turkey

In its present form, the flag of Turkey has been used since 1844, but it was officially approved only on June 5, 1936. Initially, the flag was a green cloth with the image of a crescent, but its design changed in 1793 when Sultan Selim III changed the color of the cloth to red. Then, in 1844, an image of a star was added to the flag. As with many other old flags, the Turkish flag also surrounds many legends regarding its history and creation.

The Turkish flag is one of my favorites.
I like bright, catchy, simple and convincing combinations.
The only fancy flag of the undisputed favorites is, indeed, they showed off like that, but the most impressive, proud and interesting in their simplicity national banners are Turkey, Greece, Ukraine, Israel, Hong Kong, Japan.
By the way, the Russian flag for me is one of the most faded and out of memory. No, well, really - many do not distinguish it from the flag of Serbia, in order to remember the order of the colors of the Russian flag, teach everyone the word "tramp" - b, c, k - white, blue, red.

The Turkish flag is shamelessly red. The color of blood, courage, passion and impulsivity.
Even Lenin tried to hobnob with Kemalist Turkey, feeding on arrogant expectations that Turkey would get closer to the Bolsheviks, and had even raised a red flag.
Although Turkey has had the red flag for a long time, the color goes back to the ruler of Umar, from the 600s AD, when the Anatolian Peninsula lay in the Arab Caliphate.
Since the 14th century, the red color of the flag finally became the main color of the newly created, powerful Ottoman Empire.
The crescent moon and star are symbols of Islam.

The flag is very laconic and memorable.
Even its some illogicality adds charm - initially the star was inside the month, which is impossible from the point of view of astronomy - the star would be covered by an invisible part of the Moon, would not be visible in the shadow.
At the beginning of the 20th century, at the insistence of astronomers, the star was taken out of the crescent.
The following illogicality was indicated - the crescent does not represent the phase of the moon, which can be observed from the Earth every month, but the eclipse of the moon by an incomprehensible object. By the size and position of the orbit - not the Earth. Round shape- that is, not a large asteroid.
In short, you will not see such a moon in the sky.
In my opinion, this only added an illogical, symbolist charm, impulsiveness so characteristic of the Turks.

The Turkish flag is the most frequent decorative symbol of the modern country. More frequent even than the main Turkish amulet - a blue eye from the evil eye (pun), which originated from crusades when the blue eye of the European carried a threat.
Turks love their symbol, are proud of it and use it everywhere.

Nowhere, in any country in the world, have I seen such a massive, widespread use of the national flag.
You can take pictures in all directions, and then it is fascinating to disassemble the resulting pictures, counting - how many flags were in this photo?

A fascinating puzzle of the name of a psychedelic gopher - "do you see the flag? And I don't. But it is."

They wave to the left - ay, we are here!

On the open deck of a ship

At the lighthouse

Every ship will be awarded a flag

Every boat

Every sloop

In the harbor or in the sea

Many cars drive with a curtain around themselves.
Lack of visibility does not bother anyone at the same time

From small to large - a flag.
From a quiet children's yard

From balconies with drying clothes

To the minaret from which the mullah calls believers to pray

The flag flies over a country that combines antiquity and present, remembers the past and thinks about the future

The government of any country is trying to "wrap" the history of the emergence of its national flag in some a beautiful legend, which, as a rule, is associated with the heroic events of hoary antiquity and which is extremely difficult to confirm, however, as well as to refute. This is understandable: the upbringing of the spirit of patriotism and pride in the great ancestors is perfectly combined with a position of loyalty to the leadership of the state ...

The flag of Turkey also has its own version of the origin, based on the legend. Since our site is primarily dedicated to Turkey, we consider it our duty to tell you this beautiful story. But first, let's go over the historical facts a bit.

Transformations of the Turkish flag

The Turkish flag is colorful and easy to remember, and thanks to the presence of a crescent and a star, it clearly speaks of its Muslim origin. So it is, but the flag of Turkey stands out from a number of state symbols of the countries of Islam due to the complete absence of their characteristic green color.

In its current state, the Turkish flag is a white crescent moon and a star on a red background. The final version of the flag was officially adopted on May 29, 1936, in this form it exists to this day. It is interesting that the previous, so to speak, "prototype" of the main state symbol of Turkey differed from the current one only in that the star was not next to the crescent, but directly inside it. Rumor has it that it was scientists at the beginning of the XX century that "bombarded" the supreme authorities with dispatches indicating the flagrant astronomical discrepancy of this fact, which led to the "expulsion" of the star outside the lunar disk.

The crescent moon appeared on the Turkish flag around the middle of the 15th century. Information on this matter varies: some sources claim that it was borrowed from the horoscope of Sultan Osman, others talk about its appearance after the legendary battle on the Kosovo field.

Interestingly, the stars on the Turkish flag appeared later. They were both seven- and eight-pointed, and they could be repeated with the crescent three times (until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918). Only since 1844, the five-pointed star has firmly established itself on the Turkish flag.

As for the red color of the cloth, it became so after the highest command of Sultan Selim III in 1793. Prior to that, for centuries, the green color of the Prophet Muhammad, sacred to any Muslim, dominated on the Turkish banner.

Now is the time to turn to the legends about the appearance of the symbols of the star and the crescent on the Turkish flag.

Legend one

The Great Sultan Selim (the father of the famous Suleiman the Magnificent), as a result of a bloody war, defeated Egypt in 1517, annexing its lands to the possession of the Ottoman Empire. After the decisive battle, Selim entered the battlefield, where he saw the reflection of the evening crescent and the star next to it in a pool of spreading human blood ...

The symbolic combination of scarlet blood and the reflection of heavenly bodies strongly impressed the Great Sultan, moreover, it strongly resembled the symbols on the battle banner of the Turkish army. That is why later this image was chosen as the state flag of Turkey.

The second legend

In 339 BC, King Philip - the father of the legendary Alexander the Great - took ancient Istanbul (then called Byzantium) into the ring of siege. The brave inhabitants of Byzantium did not surrendered at the mercy of the victor, and the siege threatened to drag on for a long time. Philip the Macedonian gave the order to make a tunnel under the walls of the stronghold on the next gloomy night ...

His plan almost succeeded, but suddenly a crescent moon and a nearby large star peeped out from behind the clouds. They were reflected in the multitude of puddles of spilled human blood near the fortress walls and illuminated Philip's soldiers who were digging. The defenders noticed the enemy and thwarted their cunning plan. Later, as a result of bloody battles, Philip's troops were driven back from the walls of ancient Istanbul.

In gratitude for the night's clue, the star and crescent moon were chosen as the emblem of Byzantium. In 1453, the Turkish army captured Istanbul, and later the entire eastern part of the Roman Empire. The emblem of Byzantium migrated to the banner of the invaders as a kind of war trophy. Well, later the symbols of the crescent moon and stars on a red background became the national flag of Turkey.