Republic of Cyprus, 1960
On 16 August 1960, the Republic of Cyprus came into being. Until then, the flags of Greece and Turkey had been used by the two communities. A design competition was held in 1960, and the winning design was that of Turkish Cypriot artist İsmet Güney. The flag was white as a symbol of peace among Greek and Turkish Cypriots. It featured a map of the island (originally just in outline) in the brown-red colour of copper: the ancient Greeks mined copper here, and the name of the island is derived from their word for it. The two olive branches are also symbols of peace between the two communities, and the flag’s aspect ratio is 3:5.