26 June 2024

June 26 is the Day of the Crimean Tatar Flag

The flag is one of the most important elements of a nation’s cultural code. It is a symbol of struggle and victory, of what has been won and lost.

On June 26, we celebrate the Day of the Crimean Tatar Flag and honor this symbol of the indigenous people of Ukraine: a blue cloth with a yellow tarak-tamga, the national emblem and family sign of the Giray dynasty. The tamga was depicted on the coins and seals of the Crimean Khanate, and since the 20th century, it has been used as the emblem of the Crimean Tatar people.

In 1783, like Crimea in 2014, the Crimean Khanate was occupied by the Russians, who deprived the Crimean Tatars of their state. With the beginning of the national revival of the Crimean Tatars, the symbols of the Crimean Khanate were used again.

In 1917, the Crimean Tatar flag was first approved as an official flag by the first Kurultai of the Crimean Tatar people. The history of the flag reflects the history of the people: the blue flag was banned by the communists in 1929, and since 1944 its owning has been considered a crime.

With the decay of the USSR and the return of the Crimean Tatars to Crimea, it was revived and approved at the second Kurultai in Simferopol in 1991.

Today, the blue flag with a yellow tamga is a symbol of the struggle for the right to live on their native land, for the rights and freedoms of one of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine. This flag is in the trenches and on the frontlines alongside the defenders of the Ukrainian state, it flies on buildings on this day and reminds us of the strength and courage of the entire Crimean Tatar people, of resistance to the occupiers and counteraction to their invasive ambitions.  

Throughout history and until today, the Russians have tried everything to destroy all blue and yellow flags in Crimea, to erase the memory of the Crimean Tatars, Ukraine and the history of the peninsula.

We believe that very soon the Crimean Tatar flag will fly freely side by side with the national flag over the free cities of Ukrainian Crimea!