Flag of Turkmenistan

File:Flag of Turkmenistan.jpg

Flying flag of Turkmenistan

The national flag of Turkmenistan (Template:Langx) features a white crescent and five stars representing the five regions of the country and the Five Pillars of Islam. Placed upon a green field is a symbolic representation of the country's famous carpet industry. It was introduced as the flag of Turkmenistan on 27 September 1992 to replace the Soviet-era flag. The modified version with a 2:3 ratio was adopted on 24 January 2001. State Flag and Constitution Day is celebrated on 18 May.<ref name="Tenora">Template:Cite journal</ref>

Design

Description

The flag features a green field with a vertical red stripe on the hoist side, containing five carpet guls (designs used in producing rugs) stacked above two crossed olive branches similar to those on the flag of the United Nations. A white crescent moon and five white five-pointed stars appear as a charge on the fly side of the red stripe.

Colors

Color scheme<ref name = "Decree">Template:Cite act</ref>	Green		Red		Yellow		Black
Pantone		348 C		1795 C		123 C		Black C
RGB		0–133–58		210–38–48		255–199–44		56–55–57
CMYK		100-0-56-48		0-82-77-18		0-22-83-0		2-4-0-78
Web colors		00853A		D22630		FFC72C		383739

Symbolism

While no official explanation has been given for the symbolism of the flag's colors or white symbols, there are several leading theories. Some such as the Russian Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry claim that the green field stands for life, land, grass, prosperity, and peace, while the crescent moon symbolizes the clear sky above Turkmenistan's people. They claim the stars represent the five provinces (welaýatlar) of Turkmenistan: Ahal, Balkan, Daşoguz, Lebap and Mary.<ref name="Vexillographia">Template:Cite web</ref> Soon after the flag was adopted, multiple newspapers gave their own explanations of the flag's symbolism, claiming that the color green was chosen to resemble banners historically used by the Turkmen people, and the color white was chosen to represent the brightness of life. They also reported that the five points on the stars represented the five states of matter, solid, liquid, gas, plasma, and crystal, while the number of stars represented the five main preconditions of life, light, sound, taste, smell, and feeling. The newspapers stated that stars and crescent moon together symbolized the belief in a bright future.<ref name="Basov">Template:Cite journal</ref>

The five traditional carpet guls represent the five major tribes of Turkmenistan, and form motifs in the country's state emblem and flag. The Turkmen tribes in traditional order (as well as top to bottom) are the Teke, Yomut, Saryk, Chowdur, and Ersari.<ref name="Tenora"/>

• Teke
  Teke
• Yomut
  Yomut
• Saryk
  Saryk
• Chowdur
  Chowdur
• Ersari
  Ersari

History

Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} On October 6, 1926, the Constitution of the Turkmen SSR was adopted, instating the first flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic. The flag was a red field, with a gold-bordered red star and golden hammer and sickle in its canton.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> On March 2, 1937, a new constitution was adopted, changing the flag to a red banner with the gold letters "T.S.S.R." in its canton.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> On July 19, 1940, the Latin letters in the canton were changed to Cyrillic letters, to match the Republic's new alphabet. The letters in the canton were now "T.C.C.P.".<ref>Template:Citation</ref> On August 1, 1953, a decree from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Turkmen SSR changed the flag to a red field with two horizontal blue bars in its middle, and a golden hammer and sickle and gold-bordered red star in its canton. The state constitution was amended to address this change.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> On September 23, 1974, the Presidium again modified the flag, moving the star and hammer and sickle to border the hoist.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> No modifications would be made to the flag's design until Turkmenistan gained independence.

File:Stamp of Turkmenistan 1992 11.jpg

The flag on a Turkmenistan postage stamp, 1992.

Modern flag

After independence in 1991, the government of Turkmenistan decided to change its national symbols, including the flag. In early February 1992 an exhibition was held at the hall of the Union of Artists in Ashgabat, which displayed proposed flags and coats of arms from across the country. That same month, members of the 13th meeting of the Supreme Soviet were tasked with choosing a flag from the proposed designs. On February 19, 1992, the new flag was signed into law. On March 21, 1992, the Turkmen New Year, president Saparmurat Niyazov raised the flag for the first time.<ref name = "Basov"/>

On January 29, 1997,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> amendments were made to the Law of Turkmenistan On the State Flag of Turkmenistan. An olive branch, a common symbol of the United Nations, was added to the national flag following the United Nations' proclamation of Turkmenistan's permanent neutrality on December 12, 1995. This was done to commemorate the principles of neutrality in the national symbols of Turkmenistan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The positioning of the crescent and stars was also changed, with the crescent positioned roughly to its current position but with the stars in a much more uneven position.

In 24 January 2001,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the flag's proportion was changed from 1:2 to 2:3 and the green field was made lighter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Ashgabat-Flagpole-2015.JPG

Ashgabat Flagpole

In 2008, a giant flagpole standing Template:Convert tall and flying the Turkmen flag was installed in front of The State Museum of the State Cultural Center of Turkmenistan in Ashgabat. The flag measures Template:Convert and weighs Template:Convert. The flagpole was entered into the Guinness World Records. An honorary guard is stationed at its base.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Flag	Date	Use	Description
File:Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (1926-1937).svg	1926–1937	Flag of the Turkmen SSR	A plain red field with a golden hammer and sickle and a gold-bordered red star in its canton
File:Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (1937–1940).svg	1937–1940		A plain red field with the golden letters TSSR in its canton
File:Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (1940-1953).svg	1940–1953		A plain red field with the golden letters ТССР in its canton
File:Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (1953-1973).svg	1953–1973		A red field with two blue bars transversing it in the middle. A golden hammer and sickle and a gold-bordered red star are placed in its canton
File:Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic.svg	1974–1992		Similar to the previous flag, with the golden hammer and sickle, and gold-bordered start placed to border the hoist
File:Flag of Turkmenistan (1992–1997).svg	1992–1997	Flag of Turkmenistan	A green field with a 1:2 proportion. A vertical red stripe is near the hoist side, containing five carpet guls. A white crescent moon and five white five-pointed stars are placed to the right of the stripe
File:Flag of Turkmenistan (1997-2001).svg	1997–2001		Similar to the previous flag, with a golden olive branch added to the bottom of the red stripe
File:Flag of Turkmenistan.svg	2001–present		Similar to the previous flag, with a lighter shade of green and a 2:3 proportion

See also

• List of Turkmen flags
• Emblem of Turkmenistan