Flag of Kyrgyzstan

On March 3, 1992, the legislative body of Kyrgyzstan approved the State Flag of the Kyrgyz Republic - a yellow sun with 40 rays on a red background, in the middle of which two pairs of four lines intersect, forming a 3*3 cube in the middle.

What does the symbolism of the Kyrgyz flag mean?

• The red tundyk of the Kyrgyz yurt symbolizes unity, friendship, and fatherland;
• The 40 golden rays emanating from the center signify the unification of the forty tribes of the Kyrgyz people under one tundyk;
• golden color symbolizes wealth and stability; 
• red color symbolizes victory, heroism and courage.

The sun is often used not only by the Kyrgyz but also by the Turkic world. For this reason, the sun has taken pride of place on the flag of Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz flag consists of a sun on a red background and an element used on the ceilings of a yurt. The sun on the flag has 40 different rays. Each of these rays represents a Kyrgyz tribe. The coexistence of all of them is expressed as a symbol of national unity. The middle of the sun depicts roads that come from different places but intersect in the middle. This symbolism is also found on the tops of Kyrgyz yurts. Its meaning is the unification of Kyrgyz tribes from all sides in one place. It indicates national unity, like the sun. The red color used as a background on the flag means honesty and peace.

History of the Kyrgyz flag

In 1924, the Soviets took control of western Turkestan and promised equality for all ethnic groups. The Kyrgyz received their own autonomous region. Within the USSR, it was granted the status of an autonomous republic in 1926, and in 1936 it was elevated to a union republic.

In 1953, the Kyrgyz SSR adopted a modified version of the Soviet Red Flag, adding a blue-white-blue horizontal stripe in the middle. Kyrgyzstan declared its independence on August 31, 1991, four months before the collapse of the Soviet Union. But for seven months after independence, the Soviet-era flag was used as the national flag. The flag of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) was replaced by the flag of the Kyrgyz Republic in 1992, a few months after the country's independence. It was finally changed to the current design on March 3, 1992, the day after Kyrgyzstan and seven other post-Soviet countries were admitted to the United Nations.