The national flag of Cyprus came into use on 16 August 1960, under the Zurich and London Agreements, whereby a constitution was drafted and Cyprus was proclaimed an independent state. The flag was designed by art teacherİsmet Güney. The design of the flag deliberately employs peaceful and neutral symbols in an attempt to indicate harmony between the rival Greek and Turkish communities, an ideal that has not yet been realised. In 1963, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities separated because of Cypriot intercommunal violence. The national flag features the shape of the entirety of the island, with two olive branches below on white. The olive branches signify peace between the Greeks and Turks. The map on the flag is a copper-orange colour, symbolising the large deposits of copper ore on the island, from which it may have received its name.
Creation
The flag of the Republic of Cyprus was preceded by the flag of British Cyprus. Upon independence, Cyprus adopted a new flag. Under the constitution, the flag should “have a neutral design and colour,” i.e it should not include either blue or red colours, nor portray a cross or a crescent. The original proposal, made by the former British colonial administration, featured a rust-brown K on a white field. It was rejected by the President Makarios III and Vice-President Fazil Küçük, who preferred a flag proposed by İsmet Güney, a Turkish Cypriot art teacher. Following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the establishment of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkish-Cypriots use the Flag of Northern Cyprus. In the design of August 1960, the colour of the map is copper. Both the crest and the two olive-tree leaves are olive green. The background is white with the 3:5 ratio. In April 2006 the design was updated, the shape of the olive branches were slightly altered, its color was changed to Pantone 574, The copper color of the map was changed to Pantone 1385 and the ratio was changed to 3:2. Flags produced on Cyprus often differ from the original specifications, both regarding the size of the map and the colours used. The government announced in October 2005, that it would take steps to "start from scratch" and assure that only flags complying with the official specifications would be produced. Under the constitution of Cyprus, the flag of Cyprus may be flown by state institutions, public corporations, and citizens of the country.
Usage of the flags of Greece and Turkey
According to the constitution, private citizens may fly the flag of Cyprus alongside either the Greek flag, the Turkish flag, or both. Other provisions also allow municipalities, educational institutions and the National Guard to do so as well. Since the de facto division of the island, consecutive to the 1974 invasion, the flag of Greece is the only of the two flown in the area under the jurisdiction of the Republic of Cyprus, due to the predominant presence of Greek-Cypriots in that part of the island. Similarly, the flag of Turkey is only observed in the area under the control of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Lately, there has been a decrease in the number of Republic of Cyprus government buildings flying the Greek flag.
Proposed national flag
Under the terms of the publicly rejected referendum Annan Plan for Cyprus, a United Nations proposal to settle the Cyprus dispute, a new national flag would have been adopted by a reconstituted confederal republic of Cyprus. Unlike the current official flag, this version consciously incorporates colours representing Greece and Turkey alongside a large copper-yellow band for Cyprus; the heraldicblazon is per fess Azure and Gules, a Spanish fess Or fimbriated Argent. It is possible that any future Cyprus settlement will include the adoption of a new flag.
