Flags of the Ottoman Empire

Talat Paşa and the Şeyhülislam declaring Jihad against the Allies of World War I in 1914, with Ottoman flags placed in front of the podium

The term Ottoman flag refers to any of the flags used by the ruling Sultans of the Ottoman Dynasty. Various flags were used within the Ottoman Empire during its existence, and the sultan also used different personal flags on different occasions of state. Due to the complex social and political organization of the Ottoman Empire, throughout most of its history there was no single proper national flag, until 1844. In 1844, as part of the Tanzimat reforms, the first official national flag of the Ottoman Empire was adopted, together with the first official Ottoman national anthem, the Mecidiye March (1844) composed by Giuseppe Donizetti Pasha. This flag, which had a five-pointed crescent-and-star, also formed the basis of the present-day flag of the Republic of Turkey which succeeded the Ottoman Empire in 1923.

Flags from ghazi to emperor (1299-1453)

• 1299-1453
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  Flag of the Kayihan khanate, displaying the Kayi tamgha, very old - 1326
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  Flag of the Ottoman Empire, 1383-1453
• Flag of the Osmanli 1326-1517
  Flag of the Osmanli 1326-1517
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  From left to right: Flag of Algerian pirates; Flag given to Osman I by the Seljuk sultan Mesud II (1289); Ottoman naval flag (16th c.); Ottoman army flag (16th c.); Ottoman army flag (17th c.)

The early years are a time of the Ottomans defining themselves, a process which did not come to a conclusion until they took Constantinople in 1453. Osman I, a ghazi warlord in Söğüt and the founder of the Ottoman Empire was acclaimed the Khan of the Kayihan in 1299 and it was this title that he bore to his death, establishing the backbone upon which the empire was founded. This title he inherited from his father Ertugrul, who inherited it from his father Suleyman Shah, who inherited it from his father Kayaalp this going all the way back to when the Kayihan were a roving tribe of Oghuz nomads who inhabited the area surrounding Mount Khan Tengri.

His son Orhan I saw himself differently, he saw the state that he inherited from his father as a successor to the Roman Empire, and even married a Roman princess. The flag that he flew combined the Roman flag with that of the Kayihan khanate, replacing the β's with Kayi tamghas.

Osman's grandson Murad I, who bore the level of Roman legitimacy his father could only dream of, ironically reversed his father's policy and forged a completely new identity for the domains, casting off any claim to Roman legitimacy or tribal affiliations and founding the Ottoman Empire. Why red was the perfect colour to say this with, we shall never know. It has no bearing to traditional tribal colours (which were white and gold) or popular Turkish colours (usually blue, white and gold). It could be because it is a Roman colour, and he wasn't casting off Roman aspirations as totally as we would be led to believe. Red might just have been his favourite colour, like Napoleon and the green stripe on the Italian flag.

Flags of the Sublime Porte (1453-1793)

• 1453-1793
• 
  Flag of the Ottoman Empire 1453-1844
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  Ottoman Battle Flag c.1500-1793
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  Ottoman Flag 1517-1844
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  Flag of the Ottoman Navy 1453-1793
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  Flag of an Ottoman Admiral 1453-1793
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  Flag of a Muslim Merchant 1453-1793
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  Flag of a Jewish Merchant 1453-1793
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  Flag of a Latin Merchant 1453-1793
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  Flag of a Roman (Orthodox Christian) Merchant 1453-1793

The original flag changed very little, the gold crescent merely makes its appearance for the first time. By the 18th century this began to be flown as a rectangular as opposed to triangular flag, but remained essentially unchanged. The gold is actual gold-woven silk, and in lieu of this white cloth as opposed to yellow-dyed cloth was used, as not everyone can afford such luxury.

The crescent was an ancient symbol of Byzantium and Constantinople, and while this alone was an important reason to adopt the symbol as an Ottoman symbol, it was not the only reason. In some Turkish clans and kingdoms, the crescent-shaped symbols were used extensively. The crescent was quite popular in Persia, which was the origin of most of the non-Roman Ottoman culture at that point, and it was remarkably similar to the Kayi clan tamgha from which Osman was descended and the Khanate of which the Ottoman state emerged. The crescent for the Ottoman Empire therefore was a powerful message as well as an appropriate symbol, binding the past to the future.

With control of Constantinople and the Bosphorus came new commercial opportunities and new threats from Venice and Genoa, who feared for their interests and colonies in the Aegean and Black Sea. The Ottomans felt the need for a strong navy and merchant marine, and instituted a number of reforms. These included naval identification flags, including flags signifying command ships, and a set of merchant flags based on religion, each of which was treated differently by the legal system. The naval system also had flags for individual ships and commanders, but those could not be considered to be "Ottoman" flags.

Jews and Christians of the empire were subjected to additional taxation, however as "Romans", the Orthodox Christians had certain rights and privileges that the Catholics did not, and for religious reasons Jews were the only people who could engage in certain financial activities, so at the time this worked out to an early form of tax brackets.

The Catholics had the worst deal, since they were taxed as heavily as the other non-Moslems, without any of the benefits or privileges. This wasn't that much of a source of discontent however, as most of the mercantilist Catholic subjects of the Ottoman Empire lived under their own administration in the Republic of Ragusa. Only a few struggling Albanian merchants from Durrës or (later on) Croatians from Split fell under this category.

While this all seems incredibly discriminatory today, it was in fact a much fairer system than that which existed in the rest of the Balkans, and despite these rules the nobility was hard pressed to keep their serfs from fleeing for Ottoman territory.

With the conquest of Syria and Egypt, a new Imperial flag was needed. The Sultan was no longer a Roman successor in a mostly Christian land, but the Sultan of Egypt and Caliph of Islam. So the Byzantine cross was removed, and a disc of the colour green, the colour of Islam, was placed upon the imperial flag. The many-crescents motif was maintained, but was reduced to three upon the disc, and now represented the three titles and three continents that the house of Osman ruled over: Egypt in Africa, the Caliphate in Asia, and Rûm in Europe.

Reform and decline (1793-1923)

• 1453-1793
• 
  Ottoman Naval Flag, flying on all military vessels 1793-1844
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  Ottoman Religious Flag, or the Flag of the Caliphate 1793-1844
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  Ottoman Army, or Land Flag 1793-1923
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  Ottoman Civic & Merchant Flag 1793-1923

After the Tanzimat (1844-1923)

• 1844-1922
• 
  The late Ottoman Navy flag with an eight-pointed star and crescent was used between 1793 and 1844. In 1844 the present-day Turkish flag with a five-pointed star, which derived from the Ottoman Navy flag of 1793-1844, was adopted as the first official Ottoman national flag, as part of the Tanzimat reforms.
• 
  19th century flag of Ottoman Egypt and Sudan
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  The last flag of the Ottoman Empire from 1844 to 1922 was adopted with the Tanzimat reforms as the first official Ottoman national flag, together with the first official Ottoman national anthem, the Mecidiye March (1844) composed by Giuseppe Donizetti Pasha.

The flag of the Ottoman navy was made red as red was to be the flag of secular institutions and green of religious ones, following the New Order reforms. All religious institutions were "spun-off" and while the emperor remained caliph and retained religious roles, the sultanate secularized itself. The navy went through radical modernization reforms, but nothing compared to the army.

The army was completely restructured. The janissaries were disbanded and many of them were killed as they resisted modernization. This came of course with a new flag design, without the colour, religious overtones, and excess of the janissaries, and in the style of European armies of the day it was a bicolour flag containing the two, now official, Ottoman colours.

Furthering the New Order reforms, the Empire was centralized and all the various sub-sultanates, pashaliks, beyliks and emirates were abolished, including the Ottoman Sultanate. A new flag was designed to replace all these flags with one single national flag. The result was the red and white flag with the crescent moon and star, which is the precursor to the modern Turkish flag. Secularization made the religions equal under law, doing away with the complex hierarchy of religions in relation to taxation and mercantile pursuits, so a plain red flag was made the civil flag for all Ottoman subjects.

Relation to the flag of the Republic of Turkey

Main article: Flag of Turkey

The current flag of the Republic of Turkey after the Turkish Flag Law on May 29, 1936.

Subsequent to the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I and the foundation of the Republic of Turkey following the Turkish War of Independence, the new Turkish state maintained the last flag of 1844 of the Turkish Empire, but introduced proportional standardizations. The flag of Turkey bears, on a red background, the white crescent moon and a five-pointed star with definite geometrical proportions, established and regulated by the Turkish Flag Law (Turkish: Türk Bayrağı Kanunu) since 1936.

Personal standard of the sultan

The imperial banners displayed the sultan's tughra, often on a pink or bright red background. The religious colour of Islam is green, and many Ottoman flags were dark green (either simple green flags, or bearing the star and crescent in either white or yellow). Many royal banners picture the legendary Zulfikar sword. As of 1862 the flag of the sultan was green with seven thin, red, horizontal lines.

Flag poles

The flagpoles were often decorated by a crescent, a wolf's head, a horsetail or a Qur'an box. In addition, banners were always accompanied by a number of smaller flags, pennants, icons and various other items with symbolic meaning (for example, the Janissaries used to parade with their cauldrons).

References

Catalan Atlas, Cresques Abraham 1375

Topkapı Museum, Flag Exhibit, Istanbul

Ottoman Painted Miniatures, Turkish Ministry of Culture

Portolan Chart, Petrus Roselli, 1466

Portolan Chart, Albino de Canepa, 1489

Flags of the World, Ottoman Empire

External links

• Flags of the World: Ottoman Empire