Flag of Azerbaijan

Meaning and history of the flag of Azerbaijan

The flag of Azerbaijan has three equal horizontal stripes of blue, red, and green, from top to bottom, with a white crescent and an eight-pointed white star at the center of the red stripe. Blue symbolizes the country's Turkic heritage, red represents modernization and progress, and green reflects the nation's Islamic identity.

The eight-pointed star is a distinctive feature that sets the flag apart from other crescent-and-star designs. Its eight points refer to the eight branches of the Turkic peoples, or, according to another interpretation, to the eight letters of the word 'Azerbaijan' in Arabic script. The flag was originally designed in 1918, when the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan was proclaimed, the first democratic, secular state in the Muslim world.

After the Soviet annexation of 1920, the flag was replaced by Soviet designs bearing the hammer and sickle. It was readopted on November 9, 1990, during the process of independence from the Soviet Union. The blue-red-green combination makes it similar to other Turkic countries' flags, though its specific arrangement and eight-pointed star make it unmistakable. One of the tallest flagpoles in the world was erected in Baku to fly this flag.

You can view the flag of Azerbaijan in high resolution above and download it in several sizes for personal, educational or reference use. To explore more, visit the full Azerbaijan profile, its map, or the current local time in Baku.