Flag of Azerbaijan

The national flag of Azerbaijan (Azərbaycan bayrağı), often referred to in Azerbaijani as Üçrəngli bayraq (Tricolour flag), is a horizontal tricolour that features three equally sized bars of bright blue, red, and green; a white crescent; and a centred eight-pointed star. The flag has become the predominant and most recognizable symbol of Azerbaijan. The bright blue represents Azerbaijan's Turkic heritage, the red represents progress, and the green represents Islam, which is Azerbaijan's majority religion. The Azerbaijani Flag Day, held every year on 9 November, was established by Law No. 595 on 17 November 2009. The day commemorates the first official adoption of the tricolour as a national flag by the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which occurred on 9 November 1918. The flag was used by the republic until the 1920 Soviet invasion of Azerbaijan. It was reinstated, with slight variations to the colours and size, on 5 February 1991 following the country's independence from the Soviet Union. The flag is referred to in the national constitution and mentioned twice in the national anthem, Azərbaycan marşı. On land, the flag is used as the civil, state and war flag; at sea, it is used as the civil, state, naval ensigns, and the naval jack. The Azerbaijani law regulates the flag's use and display, protecting it from desecration. The flag also has official status in Nakhchivan, an autonomous republic within Azerbaijan. On 28 May 1918, the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) declared independence. One of the first actions of the republic was the adoption of national symbols. Taking inspiration from the flag of the Ottoman Empire, the ADR adopted its first state flag on 21 June 1918, which depicted a white crescent and a white eight-pointed star on a red background. The new flag was almost identical to the old Ottoman Empire flag, which also featured an eight-pointed star until 1844 when it was replaced by a five-pointed star. The similarities between the flags reflected the hegemony of the Ottoman Empire at the time, as well as the ethnic kinship between the Turkic populations of ADR and the Ottoman Empire.