We’re not in Cyprus nearly long enough to get a real feel for the place. But one thing that’s strikingly obvious, even to us, is that it’s a place dripping with history. And conflict. And yet, it’s nothing like the Middle East, or Ireland during the troubles. Take, for instance, the flag, which we find fascinating.
The flag of the Republic of Cyprus is the only flag in the world to contain a map. It’s also got a unique colour scheme – the golden yellow of the island was originally to be copper-coloured, but in 2006 it was updated to be golden yellow. Fun fact: Cyprus was famous in antiquity for its copper. We thought Cyprus took its name from its copper (Cu, cuprum). Not so: copper takes its name from Cyprus. At least according to some sources. Copper, however, isn’t one of the heraldic colours, so there you are.
The olive branches symbolise peace (so too the white background). And the island is nominally peaceful enough, but there is certainly a lot of unhappiness under the surface. Indeed: the shape of the island is the shape on the flag, despite the fact that a good third of the island is currently under Turkish control. The ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ is functionally a province of Turkey. (It’s a country recognised only by Turkey.)
Ismet Güney designed this flag, winning a competition, and beating out some kind of ugly business with a giant K (for Cyprus). You don’t have to be a linguist to notice that Güney is not a Greek but a Turkish name. Güney, an artist and art teacher born in Lemesos, designed the flag in 1960, when Cyprus won independence from the British. And – like many – he believed in unification of the island. But, unfortunately, that impetus was not strong enough or widely enough felt. Years of unrest followed, and an attempted coup in 1974 by Greek Cypriots led to a Turkish invasion, and occupation of the northern part of the island. This created massive displacements of peoples and two functionally separate states (the Northern Republic came into existence in 1983). Also, the Green Line, established in 1964 and extended in 1974, maintained by the U.N.
We don’t know a lot about the flags of many countries, but this one struck us as being particularly rich, so we thought we’d share it with you.
