Cyprus Flag

Description

The Cyprus flag is available from Flags Online in full-size and desk formats, printed on both sides and made to last outdoors.

About the Cyprus Flag

The Cyprus flag shows a copper-coloured silhouette of the island on a white field, with two olive branches in green crossed beneath it. It was designed specifically to avoid the colours most closely associated with either of the island’s two main communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, at a time when those communities were negotiating the terms of a shared, independent state. The result is one of the few national flags built almost entirely around a map of the country it represents.

Colours and Symbolism

Copper was chosen deliberately: the island’s name is widely linked to the Latin word for copper, cuprum, reflecting the long history of copper mining and export on Cyprus in the ancient world. The white background was selected for the same reason as the copper map, to steer clear of the blue commonly associated with Greece and the red associated with Turkey. The two olive branches beneath the map represent peace, an explicit hope that the flag’s designers held for relations between the island’s Greek and Turkish communities.

History of the Cyprus Flag

The flag was adopted in 1960, when Cyprus became independent from British colonial rule under a constitution designed to share power between its Greek and Turkish Cypriot populations. The neutral colours were meant to give both communities a flag neither could see as belonging to the other side. That effort at neutrality has not stopped both communities from also flying the flags of Greece and Turkey respectively in various parts of the island, particularly since the division of Cyprus following the events of 1974, but the Cyprus flag has remained the flag of the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus throughout.

Flying and Displaying the Flag

The Cyprus flag is flown at government buildings, ports and diplomatic missions representing the Republic of Cyprus, and is raised for national days including Independence Day on 1 October. Because of the island’s political situation, the flag is sometimes flown alongside the Greek flag by Greek Cypriot organisations, though the white and copper design remains the only flag recognised internationally as representing the Cypriot state as a whole. Displayed correctly, the island’s outline sits above the crossed olive branches, oriented with the north of the island toward the top of the flag.

Cyprus Flag Sizes and Pricing

• 180 x 120cm — R860
• 22 x 15cm Desk Flag (10 units) — R800
• 10 x 15cm Desk Flag (10 units) — R650
• 90 x 60cm — R400

Material and Construction

Made from 100% polyester bunting material and digitally printed on both sides. Hemmed all around with two rows of stitching and finished with a polyester webbing heading. Rope and toggle for hoisting included.

Supplied in packs of 10. Printed on both sides onto polyester and supplied with a black plastic stick and removable base — take the base off and it doubles as a hand waving flag.

Ordering and Delivery

Every Cyprus flag is printed to order and dispatched from our Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) and Johannesburg branches, with courier delivery nationwide. Bulk and school orders are welcome — contact us for volume pricing on quantities of 10 or more.

Additional information