Flag of Cyprus

What the flag means

The government describes the olive branches as symbols of peace. The copper colour refers to the metal: Cyprus was a major producer and supplier of copper in ancient times, and the island's name may derive from an ancient word for copper.

History

Article 4 of the 1960 constitution required a flag of neutral design and colour, chosen jointly by the President and Vice-President. In practice this ruled out blue and red, the colours of the Greek and Turkish flags, and any cross or crescent. President Makarios III and Vice-President Fazıl Küçük chose a design by the Turkish Cypriot artist İsmet Güney over a British proposal, and the flag came into use on 16 August 1960. On 24 April 2006 the branches were redrawn and the shades changed to Pantone 1385 for the map and 574 for the branches.

For the UN's Annan Plan, more than 1,000 designs for a new flag were collected by February 2003. Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan and Greek Cypriots rejected it, so it never took effect.