Flag of Turkey

There are multiple legends that tell the story of the origin of the Turkish flag, though only two of them are more widely-spread. One states that after the bloody battle of Kosovo in 1448, a star surrounded by the crescent of the Moon was reflected on the pools of blood. At this very moment Sultan Murad II decided to adopt this image as a basis for the Turkish flag.

The other legend refers to a dream of the first Ottoman Emperor where a crescent and a star emerged from his chest and started to expand, foreshadowing the dynasty's seizure of Constantinople. Apart from the legends, red has been for a long time the dominant color in the Turkish flags. In addition, the star and the crescent are Muslim symbols that have a long pre-Islamic history in Asia Minor.

According to many historical sources, the basic form of the national flag of Turkey was established in 1793 under Sultan Selim III’s rule, when the green flag used by his navy was changed to red with a white crescent and a multipoint star on it. Since then, the flag has retained it original form with just slight modifications. The modern Turkish flag is currently in use since 1936 and comprises of a red background on which there is the legendary motif of the crescent moon and a star. The star in the flag of Turkey is said to represent the Morning Star as mentioned in the Holy Koran and the white crescent is another major symbol of Islam. This motif is placed slightly on the left side of the red background of Turkey’s Flag.