Flag of Karakalpakstan

Flag of Karakalpakstan

Use	Civil and state flag, civil and state ensign
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	14 December 1992; 31 years ago (1992-12-14)
Designed by	Zhollybai Izentaev[1]

The flag of Karakalpakstan (Karakalpak: Qaraqalpaqstan Respublikasının' ma'mleketlik bayrag'i / Қарақалпақстан Республикасының мәмлекетлик байрағи; Uzbek: Qoraqalpogʻiston Respublikasining davlat bayrogʻi / Қорақалпоғистон Республикасининг давлат байроғи) is one of the official symbols (along with the emblem and anthem) of Karakalpakstan, an autonomous republic within Uzbekistan. It was designed from a sketch by Karakalpak artist Zhollybai Izentaev.^[1] The flag is based on the flag of Uzbekistan.

It consists of three equally horizontal bands of blue, yellow, and green separated by a narrow red and a narrower white band. On the hoist side of the flag, in the blue stripe, are a white crescent moon and five white stars. The colors of the flag symbolize Islam, fertility, agriculture, renewal of nature, spirituality, and trust (green), water, spring and sky (blue), peace, prosperity and harmony (white) and the Karakalpak people and its deserts (yellow). The stars and crescent represent Muslims, and the five stars are a symbol of Karakalpakstan's five oldest cities.^[2]

During the time of the Soviet Union, promotion of a Karakalpak identity was opposed. After the independence of Uzbekistan, the Karakalpaks were granted more freedoms, including the right to fly their own flag. While the area also had its own flag under Soviet rule, it had the standard pattern of a Soviet flag.