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National flag

The flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti Bayrağı) is the national flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and is based on the flag of Turkey, with the colors reversed and two additional horizontal red stripes at the top and bottom. The flag was drawn by the Turkish Cypriot artist Emin Çizenel. It was adopted in 1984 by Northern Cyprus, a self declared state that is recognized only by Turkey, after its unilateral declaration of independence in 1983. Although there is no official statement on the meaning of the flag, it can be interpreted as the star and crescent meaning Turkishness, the red color representing the blood of the Turkish Cypriots, and the stripes indicating Turkey (top) and Northern Cyprus (bottom). Before the current flag, the flag of Turkey was used. The country's flag is officially determined by its law, and it has several other laws that specify where and when the flag should be flown and also laws against insulting or burning of the flag. It can also be flown at half mast, commonly to commemorate Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founding father and first President of Turkey, but also in case if the premiership issues an order to do so. Several of these laws also apply to the flag of Turkey, which has official status in the country. On the side of Beşparmaklar Mountain, in the Kyrenia Mountains, there is a wide flag of Northern Cyprus along with a star and crescent and the quotation How happy is the one who says I am a Turk.

The flag of Northern Cyprus was defined in Article 2 of the Flag Law of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus under these terms: "The flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has, under the conditions defined by law, a red star and crescent on a white background and two longitudinal lines". There aren't any official statements about the meaning of the flag. An interpretation is that the star and crescent represent Turkishness, red representing the blood of Turkish Cypriots killed in Cypriot intercommunal violence, white representing peace, the upper line representing Turkey, the bottom line representing Northern Cyprus and the horizontality of the lines represents that "The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will last forever". In 2019, the flag became the subject of a conspiracy theory falsely The theory was based on allegations claiming two blue stripes on the flag of Israel represent the Nile and Euphrates rivers and allege that Israel desires to eventually seize all the land in between.

The Turkish Federated State of Cyprus was formed on 13 February 1975 and existed until 15 October 1983, when the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was established. TFSC didn't mention a flag in its constitution. 3 days after the declaration of independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, a self declared state that is recognized only by Turkey, on 18 November 1983, the Council of Ministers of Northern Cyprus discussed the flag of the new state. It was decided to use the flag of Cyprus with the flag of Turkey placed in the canton (upper left). However, the design was never used. According to an article in the Flag Bulletin, for the first four months of its existence, the flag of Turkey was used as the official flag of Northern Cyprus.

On 23 November 1983, the government officially called for a new flag for the country and asked for flag suggestions from all citizens, establishments and foundations being 3 December 1983 the deadline. was accepted and it was officially adopted as the flag of Northern Cyprus on 7 March 1984 by Law No.15 of constitution of Northern Cyprus. Flag Law of Northern Cyprus was adopted the same day.) in 1921.

The Annan Plan was a United Nations proposal to restructure the Republic of Cyprus as a federation of two states under the name of "United Republic of Cyprus" to settle the Cyprus dispute. A Spanish fess flag made up of three white fimbriated blue, red and orange yellow lines were chosen for the federation by a committee of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in early March 2004. The current flag of Northern Cyprus was planned to be used as the flag for the Turkish Cypriot State of the federation. The meaning of white fimbriation wasn't officially stated but an interpretation is that it represented peace between the two communities.

Flag Date Use Description 1974–1984 De facto flag of Northern Cyprus Flag of Turkey used during the invasion and then by the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus and Northern Cyprus until 7 March 1984. Flag of Northern Cyprus Flag chosen by the Council of Ministers on 18 November 1983. Proposed flag of Northern Cyprus Proposed flag of the United Republic of Cyprus 1984–present Flag of Northern Cyprus Current flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Article 2 of the Constitution of Northern Cyprus states that the flag of the country is prescribed by law. According to Article 3 of the Flag Law of Northern Cyprus, "The flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus shall be flown from buildings occupied by the Security Forces, by Government Departments, from the premises of public institutions and establishments, from the premises of the people's representatives abroad and vessels owned by persons and corporate bodies and it shall be displayed on motor cars, in and outside the country, of persons authorized by regulations to display the flag on their motor cars". 14–20 January 2012 due to the death of Rauf Denktaş, founding president of Northern Cyprus, 15–16 May 2014 due to the Soma mine disaster, 22–24 July 2014 due to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, 11–13 October 2015 due to the 2015 Ankara bombings, 29 July 2016 due to the 2016 Atatürk Airport attack and 11 December 2016 due to the December 2016 Istanbul bombings.

Article 5 of the Flag Law of Northern Cyprus states that "The Turkish Flag shall continue to be the national flag of the Turkish People of Cyprus".

In 2010, Antigoni Papadopoulou, a Greek Cypriot Member of the European Parliament, submitted an official written question about the mountain flag to the EU Commission. The complaint framed it as an environmental hazard because of the chemical substances employed, and a waste of energy for the thousands of lights used to illuminate it at night. It also described the flag, first lit up on the Greek National Day, 28 October 2003, as an "unprecedented daily provocation" and a "hostile action", and requested that sanctions be imposed on Turkey for its conduct. The commission promised to launch an investigation into the environmental impact but declined to comment on the political aspects.