The flag of the Tunisian Republic was adopted as an integral state symbol in July 1999.
Description and proportions of the flag of Tunisia
The Tunisian flag is a rectangle whose length relates to its width as 3: 2. The fabric of the flag is made in bright red. In the center of the rectangle there is a white circle, in which there is an emblem in the form of a crescent, covering a five-pointed star on three sides. The crescent and star are painted in the same bright red as the flag field. The diameter of the white circle is equal to a third of the length of the panel, and the center of the circle is at the intersection of the diagonals of the rectangle.
The flag of Tunisia, which is officially used by the President of the country, has a golden Arabic inscription at the top, meaning "For the people". A red ribbon with a white disc with a crescent and a star is attached to the flagpole of the presidential flag of Tunisia. The other three sides of the president's flag are trimmed with golden fringes.
History of the flag of Tunisia
The Tunisian flag leads its history from the flags that flew over ships in the 18th century. They used red and white colors and had a crescent moon in their field. With the coming to power of the Ottoman Empire, the flag took the form of a blue-red-green tricolor and meant the rule of the Turks over the Tunisian lands.
The modern cloth of the state flag of Tunisia is similar in many respects to the red flag of the Ottoman Empire, because the Tunisian beys were its vassals for many years. The difference between the Tunisian flag and the Turkish one lies in the fact that the star and the crescent moon are depicted in red on a white field and are located in the very center of the cloth, while on the Turkish flag they are shifted to the edge.
During the French protectorate over Tunisia, the image of the flag of France was located in the upper part of the flag adjacent to the pole. This continued for several years and the French authorities themselves did not particularly insist on such a modification of the Tunisian flag.
The decision to form the Arab Islamic Republic in 1974, which was to include Tunisia and Libya, led to the need to develop a draft of a new flag. It was supposed to be a red-white-black horizontal tricolor with a crescent moon and a red star in the center of the white field. But the project turned out to be unviable, since the majority of Tunisians did not support the idea of uniting the two countries.
Finally, the state flag of Tunisia was officially approved in 1999.
