Kyrgyzstan to change design of flag after president blames it for country ‘being on its knees’
The sunflower has a peculiar meaning in the Kyrgyz culture
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Kyrgyzstan’s parliament voted on Wednesday to change the design of the national flag after critics, including President Sadyr Japarov, said its central element looked like a sunflower which in the local culture symbolises fickleness and servility.
The Central Asian nation’s flag, adopted in 1992 after it gained independence from the Soviet Union, depicts a yellow sun - which doubles as the pinnacle of a traditional Kyrgyz yurt tent - with 40 rays on a red background.
But the wavy rays caught the eye of some parliament deputies in September who pointed out that they look more like sunflower petals.
The sunflower has a peculiar meaning in the Kyrgyz culture equivalent to that of a weathercock in some European languages - it is used to describe a fickle and servile person willing to switch allegiance for personal benefit.
Such notions could be seen as particularly hurtful in the country whose relatively small economy is heavily dependent on its larger partners. More than a million Kyrgyz, out of the total population of less than seven million, work abroad.
“There has been a widespread opinion in our society that our flag looks like a sunflower, and that is one of the reasons why the country cannot get up off its knees,” President Japarov said last month, commenting on the initiative.
The law adopted by Kyrgyzstan’s parliament in the first reading on Wednesday changes the design to make the sun rays straight. (Reporting by Olga Dzyubenko Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments