Why Are Many of the Flags of Turkish States Blue?

Flags of states with mostly Muslim populations You know that there is a crescent and a moon. The crescent is a symbol and national symbol used for Turks since ancient times. It is also seen that the crescent and star were used as motifs on old Turkish banners and fabrics. In the last periods of the Ottoman Empire; The flag was red during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecit.to be a martyr for the countryIt met the understanding.

In Ottoman sanjaks, the crescent represented Islam and migration. It has been said from past to present that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk wanted to crown the Turkish flag with the “grey wolf” motif. So what’s the real deal?

As you know, “wolf” is a symbol identified with Turkishness.

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, He attached great value to the gray wolf, the symbol of Turkishness. There are countless examples of this value. For example, upon an order he gave, Bozkurt branded cigarettes, magazines and books were published.

It is also known that the Turkish Cooperation and Development Administration made a proposal for its emblem to be a “wolf head”. Even what we see today Gray wolf symbol at Petrol Ofisi It was prepared by his order.

Atatürk, who valued the gray wolf figure so much, wanted the gray wolf figure to be on the crescent-star flag of the Republic of Turkey. Enver Behnan Şapolyo, Atatürk’s aide To Muzaffer Kılıç “Is Ataturk thinking of changing our flag? When he asked, the answer he got was, “Yes, he thinks that the sky-colored flag used by our ancestors will be the flag of the new state.” is happening. Sapolyo states this in his book about Ataturk.

According to Şapolyo, Celal Bayar was asked about this situation.

Chapolyo; Ataturk’s Turkish flag rainbow flag will accept He asked Celal Bayar; Bayar too “Ataturk had considered accepting the official flag of the Republic as the Sky Flag, but since no publications were made on this issue, they did not accept this flag. Ataturk loved the color blue, that is, turquoise. Because this color was the color of the old Turkish flag..” He answered. Alright Why did Ataturk want a blue flag?

Instead of the crescent and star flag used by the Ottoman and Arab world Göktürks preferred a gray wolf head on the blue flag. Ataturk, who wanted to give an identity to the newly established Turkish state, He did not make this request with any malicious intent.

When we look at the flags of the 16 Turkish Empires, which is information we can find with a simple search on the internet, we can see that the current flag of the crescent and star embroidered in white on a red background belongs to the Ottoman Empire. Ataturk said that this flag He was of the opinion that he was hindering the young Republic, which was trying to break away from the past.

What Mustafa Kemal emphasized when he had historians write “The Main Lines of Turkish History” in 1930 was: Islam constitutes only a part of Turkish history, Before that, there was a glorious past of the Turks.

What he wants to do for this purpose is was to instill national pride in the people. For this reason, he wanted the flag of the Göktürks to be adopted and thought that the new flag of the Republic of Turkey should have a gray wolf symbol on a blue background, but this was not accepted and remained an unrealized idea of ​​Atatürk.

You may have also noticed the blue color in the flags of many Turkish communities. After sky blue became the national color in the 20th century, this “Sky Flag” the ayes have it. That’s why Most Turkish flags have blue color. We can call it a kind of symbol of Turkishness.

The color “blue”, generally associated with Tengri and the sky, is a very important symbol for Turks from past to present. However, when viewed Our red crescent and star symbolizing the blood shed by our martyrs against the enemy It is extremely meaningful and valuable.

Although Atatürk also had opinions that the Turkish flag should be blue, he We should not forget to evaluate the events according to the conditions of the period.