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Cyprus

Kipriakí Dimokratía [Kipros], Kibris Cumhuriyeti

by Zeljko Heimer

Flag and coat of arms adopted 16 August 1960.
Proportion: 3:5
Description: White flag with a golden map of the island with two olive branchs below.
Use: on land, national and civil flag, at sea, national and civil ensign.

Colour official specifications (as given in Album des Pavillons [pay00]):

Yellow: Pantone 144 c
Green: Pantone 336 c

which translate approximately in the CMYK system as follows:

Yellow: CMYK (%) C 0 - M 50 - Y 100 - K 0
Green: CMYK (%) C 100 - M 0 - Y 65 - K 40

On this page:

Origin and meaning of the flag
The yellow-copper colour
The flag in the Constitution

See also:

Origin and meaning of the flag

The flag of Cyprus was selected by the President of the Republic, Mgr Makarios, in 1960 after a proposal made by a school teacher who brought him a message from the Vice-President Fazil Küçük.

Source: SAVA Newsletter [sav] #27.

Jaume Ollé, 24 January 2001

The colours were intentionally chosen: white flag was chosen for the young Cyprus as a sign of peace among the two antagonistic communities living there (Turks and Greeks). The map of the island is golden/yellow, for the sake of easier reproduction of what was originally intended to be a colour of copper (symbol Cu), a metal that got its name from the island name. Most probably, since there is no brownish-reddish-copper colour in heraldry, the map was changed to golden. Green olive tree branches stand for peace, again.

Zeljko Heimer, 12 November 1998

The yellow-copper colour

Pedersen [ped70] just calls it yellow. Smith [smi77], too. Pedersen's recent book [udk98a] says that copper is the proper colour, and yellow is the usual. (my translation from Danish).

Ole Andersen 29 July 1999

Using dark yellow (Y+ in our colour guide) gives the shade of yellow that is appropriate enough to the real flags used in Cyprus and in other places when Cypriot flag is needed. The color is not exactly the "copper brown", but that are nither the shades used on the real Cypriot flags, as far as I know.

Zeljko Heimer 30 July 1999

The Ancient Greeks got most of their copper from the island, and the Romans imported a good deal as well. The Greek word for copper (from which the English is derived) actually means "Cyprus metal".

Mike Oettle, 14 December 2001

According to Petit Larousse Illustré, the French word cuivre is derived from Latin cyprium aes, Cyprus bronze.

Ivan Sache, 17 December 2001

The flag in the Constitution

The Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus was adopted on 6 April 1960 and is the only one to allow both authorities and private citizens to fly national flags other than its own.

Part I

General Provisions

Article 4:

The Republic shall have its own flag of neutral design and colour, chosen jointly by the President and the Vice-President of the Republic.
The authorities of the Republic and any public corporation or public utility body created by or under the laws of the Republic shall fly the flag of the Republic and they shall have the right to fly on holidays together with the flags of the Republic both the Greek and the Turkish flag at the same time.
The Communal authorities and institutions shall have the right to fly on holidays together with the flag of the Republic either the Greek or the Turkish flag at the same time.
Any citizen of the Republic or any body, corporate or unincorporate other than public, whose members are citizens of the Republic, shall have the right to fly on their premises the flag of the Republic or the Greek or the Turkish flag without any restriction.

Source: Constitutions - what they tell us about national flags and coats of arms [vap00]