Flag of Crimea

The flag of Crimea (Russian: Флаг Крыма, Flag Kryma, , Prapor Krymu, Although this term refers in Crimean Tatar to the "Kök Bayraq" (Blue Banner), which can be seen on the Crimean Tatar version of this article, the Bizim Qırım NGO's homepage and other websites.) is the flag of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea claimed by Ukraine and the Republic of Crimea claimed by Russia. The flag has been in use since 1992 and was officially adopted on April 21, 1999.Ukrainian heraldry — Flag of Crimea URL accessed on February 22, 2007
The flag is a triband, striped horizontally in blue–white–red (the pan-Slavic colors). 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 center, 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.fotw.net — Crimea - 1992 Proposals (Ukraine) 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.fotw.net — Crimea in the Soviet Union Crimea proclaimed self-government on May 5, 1992, but no official flag was chosen.
On June 5, 1992, five proposals were submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Crimea (Crimean Parliament):
# Blue–white–blue triband with large white space and narrow blue strips at the top and bottom edges of the flag.
# White flag with seven rainbow colors at the top.
# White over light blue field.
# 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 September 24, 1992. The flag was only officially adopted on April 21, 1999.
==Ethnic flags of Crimean Tatars==
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 damğa, 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.Jaume Olle', Crimea: The Tatars (Ukraine), Flags of the World — (10 July 2000). "adopted November 1917, abolished January 1918" (Jaumé Olle, Historical Flags, 1998). 
The light blue version is now used as ethnic flag.
File:Military flag of the Crimean Tatars.svg| Military flag of the Crimean Tatars, 1917-1918
File:Religious flag of the Crimean Tatars.svg| Religious flag of the Crimean Tatars, 1917-1918
File:Gerae-tamga.svg|Circular emblem with the Crimean Tatar damğa
==Historical flags ==
===Crimean People's Republic (1917-1918)===
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.
===Crimean Regional Government under General Sulkiewicz (1918)===
The short-lived Crimean Regional Government (), led by General Maciej (Suleyman) Sulkiewicz (a Lithuanian Tatar by origin), existed during the German occupation of Crimea (June 25–November 15, 1918), 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.
===Soviet Union===
When the Crimean ASSR was established as part of the Russian SFSR on October 18, 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 letters КрССР, 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 (for Russian SFSR) and КрАССР at the bottom. After Crimea was transformed into the Crimean Oblast (region) on June 30, 1945, its flag was abolished.
File:Flag of the Crimean ASSR, 1921.PNG| Flag of the Crimean ASSR, 1921
File:Flag of the Crimean ASSR, 1929.PNG| Flag of the Crimean ASSR, 1929
File:Bandera de la RASS de Crimea 1938.svg| Flag of the Crimean ASSR, 1938
==See also==
*Coat of arms of Crimea
*Flag of Russia
*Flag of Ukraine
*List of Ukrainian flags
==Notes==
==References==
==External links==
*Verkhovna Rada of Crimea — "On the Flag of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea"
*fotw.net — Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine)
*Ukrainian heraldry — Flag of Crimea
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Category:Symbols of Crimea
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