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Republic of Azerbaijan, 1918-1920

by Ivan Sache

Historical background
Description of the flag

See also:

Historical background

The current territory of Azerbaijan was ceded by Persia to the Russian Empire in 1828, by the treaty of Turkmancay.
After the Russian Empire had collapsed in 1917, the independent Republic of Azerbaijan was proclaimed on 28 March 1918. The Turks occupied the country in September 1918 but withdrew in November and were replaced by the English, coming from Iran. In spite of anarchy, the independent republic existed until its invasion by the Soviet forces in April 1920.

Source: P. Lux-Wurm, Les drapeaux de l'Islam [lux01]

Ivan Sache, 21 June 2003

Description of the flag

The Flag Bulletin [tfb] VIII:3, Summer 1969 was about "Flags of non-Russian peoples under Soviet rule" by Prof. W. Trembicky, who gives information on the first flag of Azerbaijan. The flag was horizontally divided blue-red-green with a white crescent and eight-pointed star, and the crescent overlapped the upper and lower stripes of the flag.

Ralf Stelter, 12 March 2001

Lux-Wurm [lux01] shows a flag matching that description, and I believe that Lux-Wurm's source was indeed Trembicky's paper in The Flag Bulletin.

Ivan Sache, 21 June 2003

by Ivan Sache

Znamierowski [zna00] shows as the first national flag of Azerbaijan a 2:3 flag, with the crescent and star shifted to the hoist instead of centered. He says that the main elements of the current flag were inspired by the 1917-20 one, implicitely stating that there are some differences between both flags.

Ivan Sache, 12 March 2001