The flag of the Republic of Abkhazia is the state symbol of the country. It was officially approved in July 1992.
Description and proportions of the flag of Abkhazia
The state flag of Abkhazia is a rectangular panel, the width of which is half the length. On the field of the flag there are seven stripes of equal width: four green and three white. Green stripes are extreme at the top and bottom. In the upper part of the flag of Abkhazia, at the pole, there is a red rectangle, the width of which is equal to the width of the upper three stripes of the flag. On its background, the palm of the hand and seven stars above it, located in a semicircle, are drawn in white.
The hand serves as a symbol of Abkhazia, which came from the Abkhazian kingdom, formed in the 8th century. The seven stars in the red field are a symbol of the country's seven historical regions, which today have become seven modern districts. The number 7 is sacred to the inhabitants of this country, and therefore the seven stripes on the state flag also appeared for a reason. They symbolize tolerance, which gives the two religions the right to freely coexist on the territory of Abkhazia. The green of the stripes is Islam and the white is Christianity.
The President of the Republic of Abkhazia has its own standard, which differs from the state flag by the presence of a coat of arms. The heraldic shield, divided into green and white halves, is decorated with the figure of a rider flying on a horse and aiming his bow at the stars. On both sides of it, eight-pointed stars are applied to the field of the coat of arms. The colors of the coat of arms symbolize youth, life and high spirituality of the people of Abkhazia. Eight-pointed stars are signs of rebirth, reminding the peoples of Abkhazia of the unity of the cultures of the West and the East.
History of the flag of Abkhazia
The state symbol of the Republic of Abkhazia was created based on the flag that was raised over the Mountain Autonomy in 1917. This state of the North Caucasus united the mountaineers of Dagestan and the Terek region. The author of the flag, which clearly traces the motives of the symbol of the Mountain Republic, was the artist Valery Gamgiya.
Earlier, the Abkhaz ASSR had a red cloth as a flag with the inscription "APSNY SSR" and the image of a solar disk with rays in the upper part at the pole. Prior to this, the appearance of the flag of the Abkhaz ASSR coincided completely with the flag of the Georgian SSR, which included the autonomous republic of Abkhazia.
