The flag of Crimea is the flag of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea claimed by Ukraine and the Republic of Crimea claimed by Russia. The flag was officially adopted on 24 September 1992 as the flag of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, readopted on 21 April 1999, then readopted on 4 June 2014 as the flag of the Republic of Crimea, annexed by Russian Federation. The flag is a triband, striped horizontally in blue–white–red. The blue stripe is located at the top edge and is 1/6 of the flag's width. The white stripe is the largest of the three and is 2/3 of the flag's width, and the red stripe is located at the bottom edge and is 1/6 of the flag's width. When flown vertically, the flag's blue stripe should be at the left, the white field in the centre, and the red stripe on the right. The flag's length is twice its width.
History
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many designs were used by separatists from Crimea. The most commonly used design in public was a white flag with a blue outline map of Crimea, reminiscent of the flag of Cyprus. However, many Supreme Council of Crimea members had supported the version of a white flag with seven rainbow colors at the top. Crimea proclaimed self-government on 5 May 1992, but no official flag was chosen. On 5 June 1992, five proposals were submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea :
Blue–white–blue triband with large white space and narrow blue strips at the top and bottom edges of the flag.
Yellow–green–blue tricolor with a same size red vertical stripe at the hoist.
The current blue–white–red design with the coat of arms in the center.
Proposal 5, designed by V. Trusov and A. Malgin, was selected to be the flag of Crimea. The coat of arms of G. Jefetov and V. Jagunov was recommended for display on the flag. The final design for the flag was submitted in the second session of the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea on 24 September 1992. The flag was only officially adopted on 21 April 1999.
Earlier rulers of Crimea, the Crimean Tatars, introduced their own flags under the Crimean People's Republic of 1917-1918. A light blue flag with a golden tamğa, known as the Kök Bayraq "Blue Banner", was used as the state and civil flag, the green colored flag was used for religious purposes, and the red colored flag was used as the Tatar's military flag. The light blue version is now used as ethnic flag.
When Crimean Tatars declared their independence as the Crimean People's Republic from the Russian Empire at the end of 1917, they were seen displaying a light blue and gold triband flag with the golden stripe in the center. The Crimean Tatars' independence was short-lived, and when Russia took control of Crimea in the beginning of 1918, the flag was abolished.
The short-lived Crimean Regional Government, led by General Maciej Sulkiewicz, existed during the German occupation of Crimea, in which the Crimean government proclaimed a self-rule. Sulkiewicz's government adopted a flag which seemed to be a compromise between Crimean Tatars and the Russians. It was a traditional Crimean Tatar blue-colored banner, but it had the coat of arms of the Russian Empire's Taurida Governorate instead of the Crimean Tatar damğa.
When the Crimean ASSR was established as part of the Russian SFSR on 18 October 1921, it received its own flag. The flag was red, and spelled in golden letters were the initials of the name of the republic: in Cyrillic lettersКрССР, and in the local Arabic alphabet . The lettering on the flag was changed to include КрАССР, and QrMSŞÇ in the Uniform Turkic Alphabet in 1929 in order to indicate Crimea as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The flag was amended yet again in 1938 with the lettering Cyrillic РСФСР at the top and КрАССР at the bottom. After Crimea was transformed into the Crimean Oblast on 30 June 1945, its flag was abolished.
