Ottoman Flag

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Image:Ot flag.gifThe flag of the late Ottoman Empire (and later flag of Republic of Turkey) is called Ay Yıldız which means moon star. Ottoman Empire used many flags through out times. Flags were changed based on the Sultan's title during an event. According to the Republic of Turkey's Presidential Insignia law, the Ottoman Flag was a five-point star within the outer circle of the moon. Other flags represented can be reached through Presidential Insignia.

Flags from ghazi to emperor (1299-1453)

Image:Ottoman Sultanate1299-1453.png The early years are a time of the Ottomans defining themselves, a process which did not come to a conclusion until they took Constantinople in 1453. Osman, a ghazi warlord in Söğüt and the founder of the Ottoman Empire was acclaimed the Khan of the Kayihan in 1299 and it was this title that he bore to his death, establishing the backbone upon which the empire was founded. This title he inherited from his father Ertugrul, who inherited it from his father Suleyman Shah, who inherited it from his father Kayaalp this going all the way back to when the Kayihan were a roving tribe of Oghuz nomads who inhabited the area surrounding Mount Khan Tengri.

His son Orhan saw himself differently, he saw the state that he inherited from his father as a successor to the Byzantine Empire, and even married a Byzantine princess. The flag that he flew combined the Byzantine flag with that of the Kayihan khanate, replacing the β's with Kayi tamghas.

Osman's grandson, who bore the level of Roman legitimacy his father could only dream of, ironically reversed his father's policy and forged a completely new identity for the domains, casting off any claim to Roman legitimacy or tribal affiliations and founding the Ottoman Empire. Why red was the perfect colour to say this with, we shall never know. It has no bearing to traditional tribal colours (which were white and gold) or popular Turkish colours (usually blue, white and gold). It could be because it is a Roman colour, and he wasn't casting off Roman aspirations as totally as we would be led to believe. Red might just have been his favourite colour, like Napoleon and the green stripe on the Italian flag.

Flags of the Sublime Porte (1453-1789)

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The original flag changed very little, the gold crescent merely makes its appearance for the first time. By the 18th century this began to be flown as a rectangular as opposed to triangular flag, but remained essentially unchanged. The gold is actual gold-woven silk, and in lieu of this white cloth as opposed to yellow-dyed cloth was used, as not everyone can afford such luxury.

The crescent was an ancient symbol of Byzantium and Constantinople, and while this alone was an important reason to adopt the symbol as an Ottoman symbol, it was not the only reason. In some Turkish clans and kingdoms, the crescent-shaped symbols were used extensively. The crescent was quite popular in Persia, which was the origin of most of the non-Roman Ottoman culture at that point, and it was remarkably similar to the Kayi clan tamgha from which Osman was descended and the Khanate of which the Ottoman state emerged. The crescent for the Ottoman Empire therefore was a powerful message as well as an appropriate symbol, binding the past to the future.

With control of Constantinople and the Bosporus came new commercial opportunities and new threats from Venice and Genoa, who feared for their interests and colonies in the Aegean and Black Sea. The Ottomans felt the need for a strong navy and merchant marine, and instituted a number of reforms. These included naval identification flags, including flags signifying command ships, and a set of merchant flags based on religion, each of which was treated differently by the legal system. The naval system also had flags for individual ships and commanders, but those could not be considered to be "Ottoman" flags.

Jews and Christians of the empire were subjected to additional taxation, however as "Romans", the Orthodox Christians had certain rights and privileges that the Catholics did not, and for religious reasons Jews were the only people who could engage in certain financial activities, so at the time this worked out to an early form of tax brackets.

The Catholics had the worst deal, since they were taxed as heavily as the other non-Moslems, without any of the benefits or privileges. This wasn't that much of a source of discontent however, as most of the mercantilist Catholic subjects of the Ottoman Empire lived under their own administration in the Republic of Ragusa. Only a few struggling Albanian merchants from Dürres or (later on) Croatians from Split fell under this category.

While this all seems incredibly discriminatory today, it was in fact a much fairer system than that which existed in the rest of the Balkans, and despite these rules the nobility was hard pressed to keep their serfs from fleeing for Ottoman territory.

With the conquest of Syria and Egypt, a new Imperial flag was needed. The Sultan was no longer a Roman successor in a mostly Christian land, but the Sultan of Egypt and Caliph of Islam. So the Byzantine cross was removed, and a disc of the colour green, the colour of Islam, was placed upon the imperial flag. The many-crescents motif was maintained, but was reduced to three upon the disc, and now represented the three titles and three continents that the house of Osman ruled over: Egypt in Africa, the Caliphate in Asia, and Rum in Europe.

Reform and Decline (1789-1923)

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The flag of the Ottoman navy was made red as red was to be the flag of secular institutions and green of religious ones, following the New Order reforms. All religious institutions were "spun-off" and while the Emperor remained Caliph and retained religious roles, the Sultanate secularized itself. The Navy went through radical modernization reforms, but nothing compared to the army.

The Army was completely restructured. The Janissaries were disbanded and many of them were killed as they resisted modernization. This came of course with a new flag design, without the colour, religious overtones, and excess of the Janissaries, and in the style of European armies of the day it was a bicolour flag containing the two, now official, Ottoman colours.

Furthering the New Order reforms, the Empire was centralized and all the various sub-Sultanates, Pashaliks, Beyliks and Emirates were abolished, including the Ottoman Sultanate. A new flag was designed to replace all these flags with one single national flag. The result is the flag we know as the modern Turkish flag (see top). Secularization made the religions equal under law, doing away with the complex hierarchy of religions in relation to taxation and mercantile pursuits, so a plain red flag was made the civil flag for all Ottoman subjects.

Following the fall of the Ottoman Empire and rise of the Turkish Republic, the flag remained the same.

Legends

There are various legends attributed to the flag, some dubious, others quite possible.

One legend relates to the red colour of the flag. This legend states that during the night following the Battle of Kosovo, Ottoman Sultan Murad II saw a moon and star in a pool of blood, and so he adopted this as the standard of the Ottoman Empire. This legend, while poetic, is most certainly a myth. Ottomans using red flags predate the Battle of Kosovo by nearly fifty years, stars did not appear on Ottoman state flags until 1844, and when the Ottomans marched into Constantinople in 1453 they did not have crescents on their flags.

Turkish people attribute the red of the flag as the colour of the blood that is on the flag, shed to win their homeland and their liberty, and that the star and crescent are components of the vast cultural heritage of Anatolian peoples throughout history.

The origin of crescent has it roots in Assyrian and Greek Mythology as the symbol of the Huntress, which in Greek mythology is Artemis. This was the patron goddess of Byzantium, and the symbol became a civic icon of Byzantium. When Byzantium was reborn with a new name and a new religion, Christian Constantinople maintained its cherished symbol, but co-opted the crescent as a symbol of Mary. Various coins minted in the city featured the crescent throughout history.

Personal Standard of the Sultan

The imperial banners displayed the sultan's tughra, often on a pink or bright red background. The religious colour of Islam is green, and many Ottoman flags were dark green. Sometimes it was just a plain green flag, sometimes the moon and star were painted in white and sometimes in yellow. Many royal banners picture the legendary Zulfikar sword. As of 1862 the flag of the sultan was green with seven thin, red, horizontal lines.

Flag Poles

The flagpoles were often decorated by a crescent, a wolf head, a horsetail or a Qur'an box. In addition, banners were always accompanied by a number of smaller flags, pennants, icons and various other items with symbolic meaning (for example, the Janissaries used to parade with their cauldrons).

References