Flag of Adygea

The flag of Adygea is a dark green field with twelve golden five-pointed stars and three crossed golden arrows in the centre. It is the emblem of the Circassians, which the neighbouring republic uses today as a flag of its own.

How it came about

Adygea is a republic of the Russian Federation, in the northwest of the country, by the Black Sea. Its flag was approved on 24 March 1992.

The emblem is that of the Circassians: twelve stars and three arrows. It was designed by Sefer Bey Zanuko and David Urquhart. It is the symbol of a people of the Caucasus, not a state invention.

How it has changed

It has never changed. It was approved in 1992 and there are no documented later modifications.

What it means

• Dark green

  the colour of the field, with no stripes or divisions.

• Stars

  twelve, five-pointed and golden. Nine form an arc open upwards, like a hunting bow; the other three are horizontal.

• Arrows

  three, golden, crossed in the centre of the field.

Fun facts

1. The emblem of a people, not of a state

   The flag of Adygea is not an invention of the republic: it is the emblem of the Circassians, the Caucasian people who live there. The stars and arrows are an ethnic identity symbol that the republic has adopted as its national banner.

2. Twelve stars: nine in an arc and three loose

   Nine stars form an arc open upwards and the other three are horizontal. The composition is not a crown of stars but a drawing: the bow. The crossed arrows in the centre reinforce that hunting reading.

3. Two authors, two worlds

   The authors of the emblem are Sefer Bey Zanuko and David Urquhart. The surname ‘Zanuko’ and the title ‘Bey’ point to the Caucasian origin of the first, while Urquhart is a surname associated with Western design. The collaboration reflects the history of the Caucasus.

Location