---
title: "Flag of Turkmenistan: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Turkmenistan flag stands for, its official 2:3 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/turkmenistan/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Turkmenistan

**The flag of Turkmenistan: A green field with a white crescent and five white stars at the upper hoist, and a vertical red stripe near the hoist containing five carpet guls above two crossed olive branches.**

Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 2001

It is generally reckoned the most intricate national flag in the world: the red stripe reproduces five distinct carpet designs, each a real tribal gul with its own internal geometry, and drawing it correctly at small size is effectively impossible. The olive branches were added in 1997 to mark the country's UN-recognised neutrality, which is itself unique among member states. The current arrangement dates from 2001. Weaving the flag by hand, as some Turkmen carpet workshops do, takes considerably longer than printing any other national flag.

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Green** (#00843D) — Islam, and the country itself
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — The crescent, stars and gul outlines
- **Red** (#C1272D) — The carpet stripe

## The symbols on it

| What | What it stands for |
| --- | --- |
| Five carpet guls | The five traditional Turkmen tribes — Teke, Yomut, Saryk, Chowdur and Ersari |
| Two olive branches | The country's declared permanent neutrality, recognised by the UN in 1995 |
| Five stars | The five provinces |

- **Ratio:** 2:3
- **Current design adopted:** 2001
- **Colours:** green, white, red

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Turkmenistan look like?

A green field with a white crescent and five white stars at the upper hoist, and a vertical red stripe near the hoist containing five carpet guls above two crossed olive branches.

### What do the colours of the Turkmenistan flag mean?

Green: islam, and the country itself. White: the crescent, stars and gul outlines. Red: the carpet stripe.

### When was the Turkmenistan flag adopted?

The current design dates from 2001, and its official ratio is 2:3.

## Related pages

- [Turkmenistan](https://atoneplace.net/country/turkmenistan/)
- [Every flag with green in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/green/)
- [The flag of India](https://atoneplace.net/flag/india/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Italy](https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/)
- [The flag of Mexico](https://atoneplace.net/flag/mexico/)
- [The flag of Ireland](https://atoneplace.net/flag/ireland/)
- [The flag of South Africa](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-africa/)
- [The flag of Jamaica](https://atoneplace.net/flag/jamaica/)
- [The flag of Pakistan](https://atoneplace.net/flag/pakistan/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]