The flag of the Republic of Cyprus was preceded by the flag of British Cyprus. Upon independence, Cyprus adopted a new flag, the design of which being created through a design competition in 1960. Under the constitution, the flag should not include either blue or red colours (the colours of the flag of Greece and the flag of Turkey), nor portray a cross or a crescent. All participants deliberately avoided use of these four elements in an attempt to make the flag "neutral".
The winning design was based on a proposal by İsmet Güney, a Turkish Cypriot art teacher. The design was chosen by Makarios III, the first President of the Republic, with the consent of Fazil Küçük, the first Vice-President.
Despite the attempt at a neutral design to promote unity amongst the constituent communities, this flag is most often used only by the Greek Cypriots, since it is associated by the Turkish Cypriots with the Greek-dominated Republic of Cyprus. Following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the establishment of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkish-Cypriots use the Flag of Northern Cyprus.
In the design of August 1960, the colour of the map is copper (Pantone 144-C). Both the crest and the two olive-tree leaves are olive green (Pantone 336-C). The background is white with the 3:5 ratio. In April 2006 the design was updated, the shape of the olive branches were slightly altered, its color was changed to Pantone 574, The copper color of the map was changed to Pantone 1385 and the ratio was changed to 3:2.
Flags produced on Cyprus often differ from the original specifications, both regarding the size of the map and the colours used. The government announced in October 2005, that it would take steps to "start from scratch" and assure that only flags complying with the official specifications would be produced.
Under the constitution of Cyprus, the flag of Cyprus may be flown by state institutions, public corporations, and citizens of the country.
Source: en.wikipedia.org
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