KAZAKHSTAN, FLAG OF

national flag consisting of a light blue field with a yellow sun and flying eagle in the centre and a yellow ornamental band at the hoist. The flag's width-to-length ratio is approximately 1 to 2. The Kazakhs are (in part) descended from the Blue HordeTurkic-Mongol peoples who, centuries ago, flew the Blue Banner in Central Asia. The colour also stands for the great skies under which these traditionally nomadic peoples have lived. Light blue was chosen as the background for the national flag of Kazakhstan officially adopted in June 1992. The designer of the flag was Shaken Niyazbekov, who attributed the symbolism of the blue to peace, tranquillity, and well-being. In the centre of the flag is a golden sun with 32 rays above a golden steppe eagle in flight. These two symbols stand collectively for the freedom and high ideals of the Kazakh people. Along the hoist edge of the flag is a vertical band of traditional Kazakh ornamentation. Originally this appeared in red, but later it was stipulated to be in golden yellow so that there would be only two colours in the flag. Under the Soviet Union, when flags of distinctive designs were first being developed for the union republics, Belarus (then known as Belorussia) in 1951 adopted a flag that had an embroidery pattern running vertically near the hoist. This basic design concept was probably the inspiration for the Kazakh pattern. The flag of the former Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic was simply the flag of the Soviet Union with a blue horizontal stripe near the bottom. Whitney Smith