Flags of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire used a variety of flags, especially as naval ensigns, during its history.

Star and crescent came to be adopted as the official state symbol in the second half of the 18th century, and its use is recorded in various documents. A buyruldu from 1793 decrees that the ships of the Ottoman Navy must use a red flag featuring a white crescent and a star. In 1844, a version of this flag, with a 5-pointed star, was officially adopted as the Ottoman national flag. The decision to adopt a national flag was part of the Tanzimat reforms in the 19th century, which aimed to modernize the Ottoman state in line with the laws and norms of contemporary European states and institutions. The familiar star and crescent design later became a common element in the national flags of Ottoman successor states in the 20th century.

The current flag of Turkey is essentially equal to the late Ottoman flag, but has more specific legal standardizations (regarding its measures, geometric proportions, and exact tone of red) that were introduced with the Turkish Flag Law on May 29, 1936.