Symbols are an important part of building a national identity.  In particular, the flag of Kyrgyzstan is truly an icon of the country, as is the national emblem and the national anthem.  Today, I want to dive more into what these symbols mean and the history of the flags of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Kyrgyzstan received its first flag during the USSR, when it was officially known as the Kirghiz SSR. The first flag of the Kirghiz SSR (also called “Kirghizia”) was a simple red banner with the words “Kyrgyz SSR” written in Kyrgyz and Russian in a gold color. This flag was used from 1936-1952

On December 22, 1952, this was replaced with a new version of the flag. As with the new flags of many of the constituent republics of the USSR that were created from 1952-3, the flag contained a series of stripes representing aspects of the country. For Kyrgyzstan, this included blue stripes to represent the Tian Shan Mountains, with a white stripe to represent the country’s cotton industry. The flag also included a hammer and sickle and a star to represent peasants and workers, a feature shared by all the flags of the USSR.

I find it really interesting how all the flags of the USSR were variants on the national flag with different combinations of narrow stripes in various colors.

From independence until the current flag was adopted, a modified version of this flag was used, but without the hammer, sickle, and star.

The modern flag was adopted on March 3, 1992, about ¾ of a year into the country’s independence, and I think is one of the coolest flags in the world. Its background and design is closely tied into Kyrgyz history and the epic of Manas. Manas, who I will dive more into in a later post, is one of the heroes of Kyrgyz history. About 800 years ago, Manas is said to have united 40 tribes to form the Kyrgyz nation in a fight to repel the Mongol empire. In fact, the word “Kyrgyz” is often said to derive from words meaning “40 tribes.”

How does this translate into the flag? Manas’ banner against the Mongols was said to be red. And the sun in the middle has exactly 40 rays when drawn properly. And in the centre, you probably recognize the tündük from my post about yurts. In case you forgot, though, the tündük is the crown piece that forms the top of a yurt, and it symbolizes the home and the family.

I read once that the gold and red were retained as a tribute to the Soviet flag, but I think that’s more of a coincidence than anything. The red is said to represent Manas, but also valor and bravery. And yellow is said to represent peace and wealth (also, because the sun is, y’know, yellow).

Now, that design is pretty complicated and intricate, but also extremely beautiful. The exact geometry and proportions are perfectly dictated, and if you want to dive more into the exact construction, the incredible construction sheets (along with other, more obscure flags of Kyrgyzstan) can be seen here.

Now as longtime readers know, I think that Osh is the absolute best place in all of Kyrgyzstan, so I’m absolutely going to talk about the Osh city flag now as well.

The City of Osh adopted its current flag on October 25, 2011. The flag also includes that tündük that you all are experts on by now. The jagged line is meant to be a stylized interpretation of the outline of Suleiman Too, while the blue represents freedom and the white represents justice and, supposedly, perfectionism.  I’ve actually also seen variants of this flag that use red instead of blue, but I haven’t been able to track down any history of that particular variation.

Got questions? Want a Kyrgyzstani flag of your own? Say so in the comments!