Adopted 1923 | Crest None | |
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Armiger State and National Symbols Use Turkish passport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Turkey) | ||
The Republic of Turkey has no official national emblem, but the star and crescent (Turkish: ay-yıldız "crescent-star") design from the national flag is in use as de facto emblem, among other things printed on Turkish passports, on Turkish identity cards and diplomatic missions of Turkey.
Contents
- Red circle with white star and crescent
- Coat of arms of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Presidential seal
- Proposed coat of arms
- References
The star and crescent is retained from the 19th-century Ottoman flag, and has acquired its status as de facto national emblem following the abolition of the Ottoman coat of arms in 1922. It was used on national identity cards by the 1930s (with the horns of the crescent facing left instead of the now more common orientation towards the right).
Red circle with white star and crescent
A circular section of the red Flag of Turkey containing the white star and crescent is used in the current emblems of a number of Turkish ministries and governmental institutions, in the emblem of the Grand National Assembly, and as the flag badge on the uniforms of Turkish national sports teams and athletes. It was also used on the old (non-digital) Turkish identity cards.
Coat of arms of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs often uses a red oval-shaped escutcheon which takes its colour from the Turkish flag, while its shape echoes the oval shield at the center of the late 19th-century Ottoman coat of arms. The escutcheon contains a gold-tone star and crescent which are vertically oriented (with the star on top) and surrounded by the gold-tone text T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı. A variant of this oval escutcheon (containing the gold-tone text Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Büyükelçiliği) is used by the Turkish embassies.
Presidential seal
The seal of the President of Turkey has a large 16-pointed star in the center, which is surrounded by 16 five-pointed stars, symbolizing the 16 Great Turkic Empires. Its appearance is regulated by law.
Proposed coat of arms
In 1925, the Ministry of National Education held a contest for a national emblem. Namık İsmail, a painter, won the contest with his coat of arms depicting Asena, a mythological wolf in the founding myth of the Gökbörü clan which ruled the Göktürk Empire. However, this coat of arms was never used.
In 2014, MPs of AKP in TBMM attempted to pass a motion in order to officially create a new coat of arms for the country.