FLAG MOTIF · 03
Turkey and Tunisia: The Crescent and Star on Their Flags
Both flags have a crescent and star. Are their designs the same?
Look closely at the white and red areas and where the shapes appear.
LOOK · COMPARE · REVEAL
How many differences can you spot?
Find the crescent and star. What colours are they? Is there a circle? Where are they on the flag?
Looked closely? Reveal the answers
Turkey
White crescent and star
They sit directly on the red field, without a white disk.
Tunisia
Red crescent and star in a white disk
The white disk is central. Its crescent and five-pointed star are red.
WHOLE FLAG
Which flag has the white disk?
Turkey
Red field · white crescent · white star
The star appears to the right of the crescent; there is no white disk.
Tunisia
Red field · central white disk
Inside the disk: a red crescent and a red five-pointed star.
WHY?
Why can the same motifs look so different?
The official texts describe each country's own flag design. They establish what to look for, but do not by themselves show why the two countries share these motifs. Similar shapes alone are not evidence that one flag copied the other.
THEN · NOW
What do the official records tell us?
Turkey
Article 3 of Türkiye's Constitution sets out the flag's main design and says its form is prescribed by law.
Tunisia
The 1959 and 2022 constitutional texts both describe the flag. Compare what they specify, then look again at the shapes above.
Explore each country
Where else might a familiar motif look different?
After the crescent and star, compare a sun or a group of stars. Which details change?
PUBLIC SOURCES
Sources for the designs and legal descriptions
Türkiye: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Constitution, Article 3. Tunisia: constitutional flag descriptions from 1959 and 2022, including Article 8 of the current Constitution.