Flag of Azerbaijan

What the flag means

The constitution describes the flag but does not explain it. The colours follow the slogan 'Turkify, Islamise, Europeanise' of the nationalist Ali bey Huseynzade: blue for Turkic identity, green for Islam and red for modernisation. A Dorling Kindersley flag guide says the eight points of the star stand for the eight Turkic peoples.

History

The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, declared on 28 May 1918, first used a red flag with a white crescent and star. It approved the tricolour on 9 November 1918 and raised it over the parliament on 7 December 1918. After the Soviet takeover in April 1920 the flag was banned. The Supreme Soviet restored it on 5 February 1991, and Article 23 of the 1995 constitution describes it.

The National Flag Square in Baku, opened in 2010, had a 162-metre flagpole, the world's tallest unsupported pole until Tajikistan built a taller one in 2011.

Earlier flags of Azerbaijan

1. 1918Red with a white crescent and eight-pointed star, modelled on the Ottoman flag
2. 1918–1920Blue, red and green tricolour of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
3. 1952–1991Red with a blue band at the bottom, gold hammer and sickle, and star

Flags of Azerbaijan's neighbours

• Armenia
• Georgia
• Iran
• Russia
• Turkey