![[Armenia]](../images/a/am.gif)
Last modified: 2005-10-22 by ivan sache
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National flag of Armenia - Image by António Martins, 6 September 2005
Flag used between 1918 and 1921 and
readopted 24 August 1991 (with modified ratio), coat of arms used between 1918 and 1921 and readopted 24 August 1991.
Ratio: 1:2
Description: Horizontally divided red-blue-orange.
Use: on land, as the civil, state and war flag.
Colour approximate specifications (as given in Album des Pavillons [pay00]):
On this page:
See also:
Full name: Republic of Armenia.
Location: Caucasus.
Status: Internationally recognized independent state since 23
September 1991.
Notes: Historical Armenia was the first nation to declare
Christianity its official religion.
The flag was originally hoisted during
short-lived Armenia independence after
First World War.
Stuart Notholt, 1995
The national flag of Armenia was confirmed on 23 August 1991 by Decision of the Armenian Supreme
Council. The Declaration about Independence of
Armenia was adopted during the same session. The law About
the national flag of the Republic of Armenia (No C-0076-1) was adopted by
the Supreme Council on 24 August 1991.
The law says that the national flag of Armenia is a rectangular panel of ratio 1:2, with three
equal horizontal stripes of red, blue and orange colours (from top to
bottom).
Victor Lomantsov, 2 March 2002
The Constitution of Armenia, adopted in 1995, says:
Article 13.
The flag of the Republic of Armenia is tricolor made of three horizontal and equal stripes of red, blue, and orange.
The coat of arms of the Republic of Armenia depicts, in the center on a shield, Mount Ararat with Noah's ark and the coats of arms of the four kingdoms of historical Armenia. The shield is supported by a lion and an eagle while a sword, a branch, a sheaf, a chain and a ribbon are portrayed under the shield.
The national anthem of the Republic of Armenia is Our Fatherland.
The capital of the Republic of Armenia is Yerevan.
Source: Embassy of Republic of Armenia in Washington
Gvido Petersons, 11 August 2000
According to the aforementioned law, the flag is said to be karmir, kappoyt, narndjagooyn (Eastern Armenian pronunciation), which translates exactly into "red, blue, orange".
Alexandre Voscorian, 25 May 1998
The flag represents the people of Armenia. The red stands for the blood shed by all Armenian soldiers, present and past. The orange stands for the fertile land and the farmers who work on it. The blue stands for the sky.
Raffi Kazanjian, 27 June 1996
Some other different interpretations of the colors
of the Armenian flag are:
1) A rainbow over Mount Ararat.
2) Red is the blood shed and the whole is derived from the colours of
the banners of the former Kingdom of Cilicia.
3) A simple description of the colours says : vermilion red,
ultramarine blue and apricot orange.
4) A friend told me that he has heard : red : blood shed ; blue :
eternal land of Armenia ; orange : courage.
5) Finally a source not to be neglected, the Embassy of the Republic
of Armenia in Ottawa (although I find this one very awkward): red :
the sun's energy; blue : the clear sky; orange : the wheat at
harvest.
But note that 1) 2) 3) and 4) are not in contradiction :
1) gives the impression given by the flag as a whole.
2) explains the origins.
3) describes the colours precisely.
And 4) gives a meaning to each colour.
Now 5) is clearly in contradiction with 4), but also with 2).
Luc Baronian, 5 May 1997
Vermilion is a bright, light red with a slightly orangeish tinge, somewhere between the red of British red ensigns and the pale red of the Iranian flag. Ultramarine is "a blue that is stronger than the sea's blue". Of course, this depends on which sea you are talking about, but the colour is usually similar to the blue of the French flag.
James Dignan, 6 May 1997