SYMBOL OF NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Azerbaijan celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the State Flag. This event has been celebrated for nine year pursuant to the presidential decree, dated November 17, 2009. According to the decree, "the flag demonstrates our loyalty to the ideas of freedom, national values ​​and universal ideals as a tribute to the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR)."

Officially, the flag of ADR returned to our people on November 17, 1990. On that day, at the meeting of the High Mejlis of Nakhchivan chaired by Heydar Aliyev, the ADR flag was approved as the national flag of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. At the same time, the Supreme Mejlis of Nakhchivan appealed to the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan to recognise the tricolour flag as a state symbol of Azerbaijan.

The decision of the legislative body of Nakhchivan pushed the state authorities of the country to take a similar step. On November 29, 1990, a decree was issued “On changing the name and the State flag of the Azerbaijan SSR”. It was ratified by the Milli Mejlis (parliament) on February 5, 1991. Thus, the tricolour of the ADR was approved as the national flag of the modern Republic of Azerbaijan. With this flag, Azerbaijan stepped on the path of state independence, regained in October 1991...

The history of the national flag with a crescent and an eight-pointed star began back in 1918. One of the first measures of the government proclaimed on May 28, 1918, was the adoption of the attributes of an independent state. The flag of the Ottoman Empire was originally taken as the basis of the national flag. The first ADR flag, which was approved on June 21, 1918, was a red flag with a white crescent and a white eight-pointed star.

However, when the Azerbaijani state, after solving with the help of the Turkish troops "the vital issue of Baku", entered a new stage of its formation, the leaders of the ADR decided to change the national flag. Undoubtedly, this decision was affected by the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the World War I and the transition of the region under the control of the winner, the Entente, but the very change of the flag took place in accordance with the ideological essence of the ADR.

The flag of Azerbaijan, which consists of horizontal blue, red and green stripes with a white crescent and an eight-pointed star in the centre of the red stripe, was approved on November 9, 1918 based on the report of the ADR Prime Minister Fatali-Khan Khoyski. The Chairman of the National Council, the first head of the Republic, Mammad Emin Rasulzadeh, expressed his confidence that "the tricolour flag raised by the National Council and symbolising independent Azerbaijan, Turkic freedom, Islamic culture and modernity, will always fly over us..."

The author of the National Anthem of Azerbaijan, the great composer Uzeyir Hajibeyov, wrote on May 28, 1919, on the day of the first anniversary of the ADR proclamation: "The Republic of Azerbaijan was founded on a healthy national basis and Turkic consciousness... At the same time, Azerbaijan sought to create a new society, to act with European values in mind. Three colours of our flag precisely symbolise these elements. The value of our flag is determined by the blue colour, the colour of Turkism, the green colour is the colour of Islam and the red colour is the colour of progress and culture.”

Later, Prime Minister Fatali-khan Khoysky explained that the crescent symbolises Islam, and the eight-pointed star indicates eight letters in the name of Azerbaijan. The outstanding poet and playwright Jafar Jabbarli, who dedicated the poems Sevdiyim and Azərbaycan bayrağı to our national flag, also linked the eight-pointed star with the number of letters in the name of the Land of Fire.

The occupation of Azerbaijan by the 11^th army of Bolshevik Russia and the establishment of Soviet power in April 1920 unrooted all attributes of independent Azerbaijani statehood, including the flag. During the seven decades of the Soviet reign, the tricolour was, in fact, outlawed. However, it was impossible to erase it from the history and memory of the people. The words of Mammad Emin Rasulzadeh were indeed prophetic: "Once raised, the banner will never fall!"

In the late 1980s, the tricolour flag was again in the hands of fighters for the freedom, independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The popular movement became widespread since November 17, 1988, the day from which our state officially started counting the national revival. In fact, the historic decision of the Supreme Mejlis of Nakhchivan was also made on November 17, two years after the start of mass rallies in the capital of Azerbaijan, Baku.

The architect of the modern Azerbaijani state, Heydar Aliyev, who played an important role in returning the tricolour of the ADR as one of the attributes of the country, said: "This is not just a flag. This is a symbol of our statehood, independence. Therefore, every citizen of Azerbaijan should realise and appreciate this fact. Each citizen must love the flag as he loves his motherland, people, and state!”

The Azerbaijani state and people protect the attributes of national independence, including its flag. In various cities of Azerbaijan, there are squares and museums of the State Flag. We celebrate all our victories and achievements with this flag in our hands.

At the opening ceremony of the State Flag Square in Baku on September 1, 2010, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said: "Thanks to the adoption of the flag of the Democratic Republic of Azerbaijan as a state flag, Azerbaijan was able to regain its independence and the processes taking place in our country became more intensive."

The national flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan is one of the burning symbols of our national sovereignty. At the same time, it can be considered the most popular symbol of our national identity.

However, the real evidence of our commitment to the glorious tricolour will be its return to the occupied territories. As the president of Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated, we will definitely achieve this objective. Soon or later, in any way. The first rays of this coming Great Victory shone during the April battles of 2016, when the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan regained a number of strategic positions in Karabakh. This year, our flag was hoisted on 11 thousand hectares of land in Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, which were previously under the Armenian occupation. In this regard, it is appropriate to quote the words of President Ilham Aliyev from his speech at a military parade on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of the liberation of Baku from the Dashnak-Bolshevik occupation: "The Azerbaijani army showed its strength and potential on the battlefield. Today, the same flags that were on the battlefield will be taken to Azadlig Square. The flags that in 2016 were raised by Azerbaijani fighters in the liberated lands of Aghdere, Fuzuli, Jabrail districts. The flags that were raised on lands liberated from occupation as a result of a successful operation on Armenian-Azerbaijani border in Nakhchivan in May 2018. The day will come, and the State Flag of Azerbaijan will be raised on all the lands that are under the occupation today."