^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Turkey: President of the Republic

by Zeljko Heimer

Description of the flag
Meaning of the flag
Construction sheet for the flag
Former versions of the flag

See also:

Turkey

Description of the flag

The flag is made of a square red field with a white crescent, a white five-pointed star and a yellow 16-pointed star (with eight big and eight little points), surrounded by 16 little yellow five-pointed stars, each of them with a point towards the centre of the 16-pointed star.

Pascal Vagnat, 28 March 1999

Meaning of the flag

The big star represents the Republic of Turkey. The sixteen stars around the big star represent the sixteen "Great Turkish Empires".

The Turkish name of the flag is Cumhurbaskanlik Forsu or just Fors.

Source: Website of the Turkish Presidency (in Turkish).

Enver Polat, 21 April 2001

Construction sheet for the flag

Image from the Turkish Presidency website.

The crescent has to be considered as the intersection of two circles, one overlapping the other. The 16-pointed star is constructed with three small, intermediate and big circles. The big points of that star are going from the big to the little circle. The small points of that star are going from the intermediate to the little circle.

G = width of the flag;
A = width between the right side of the white stripe and the left side of the crescent (big circle); A = G/5.6;
B = diameter of the big circle of the crescent; B=G/2.1875;
C = width between the centre of the big circle and the centre of the small circle of the crescent; C = G x 0.064283;
D = diameter of the small circle of the crescent; D = G/2.8;
E = width between the left side of the small circle of the crescent and the imaginary line between the two points of the crescent (the left side of the white star is on that line); E = G/3.301;
F = diameter of the circle in which the white star is inscribed; F= G/4.375;
P = width of the white stripe at the hoist; P=G/30;
H = width between the right side of the white stripe and the centre of the 16-pointed star; H = G/5.833:
I = width between the top of the flag and the centre of the 16-pointed star; I = G/5.833;
J = diameter of the small circle of the 16-pointed star; J = G/14;
K = diameter of the intermediate circle of the 16-pointed star; K = G/8.75;
L = diameter of the big circle of the 16-pointed star; L = G/7;
M = diameter of the imaginary circle on which are the 16 stars around the 16-pointed star; M = G/4.375;
N = diameter of the circle in which is inscribed one of the 16 stars; N = G/35.

Source: Türk Bayragi Tüzügü, Karar sayisi 85/9034, Kabul Tarihi 25/01/1985 (Resmi Gazete: 17/03/1985- Sayi: 18697). Türk Bayragi tüzügü, Birinci Bölüm: Kapsam ve deyimler; Birinci Bölüm: Bayragin kumas standartlari ve diregi. [Regulation about the Turkish flag. Nr 85/9034, date: 25/01/1985 (Official gazette17/03/1985 nr18697). Regulation about the Turkish flag., Chapter I: Index and glossary; Chapter II: Standards for fabrics and masts.]

Pascal Vagnat, 28 March 1999

Former version of the flag

[Fomer Presidential flag] by Zeljko Heimer

In Flaggenbuch (1939) [neu92], the yellow emblem in the canton of the flag is made of a yellow rosette surrounded by 16 yellow five-pointed stars. The rosette has 10 petals, with 10 rays inbetween, and the star orientation is slightly different from the current design.

The construction details for the flag are provided in Flaggenbuch as follows:

flag size: 235 x 235 cm;
distance from hoist to the point of crescent closest to the hoist: 55 cm;
diameter of crescent outer circle: 90 cm;
diameter of crescent inner circle: 71.2 cm;
width of crescent, along its horizontal median: 25 cm;
diameter of the circle circumscribing the star: 60 cm;
the vertex of the star closest to the hoist and the vertex of the crescent closest to the fly are on the same imaginary vertical line, which is parallel to the flag hoist;
center of rosette, from left and top borders of the flag: 40 cm;
rosette disk diameter: 11 cm;
rosette ray diameter: 36 cm;
rosette petal diameter: 39 cm;
circle of stars: diameter 60 cm;
star diameter 10 cm.

A footnote explains that the flag is used in size 70 x 70 cm as a boat flag, with the charges somewhat differently constructed.

Many sources shows the President flag with such a rosette, for instance Kannik (1962) [kan62], Pedersen (1971) [ped71],.Talocci (1977) [tal77], and Kurtoglu [kur92].

Zeljko Heimer, 19 April 2003