Azerbaijan at a glance

REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN

Political system

The Constitution, adopted on 12 November 1995, defines the Republic of Azerbaijan as a democratic, law-governed, secular and unitary republic. The sole source of state power in Azerbaijan is vested in the people of Azerbaijan. The power in Azerbaijan is divided into the legislative, executive and judicial powers. Each of them acts in accordance with the Constitution and legislative acts. The President is the Head of the state.

The legislative power is held by Milli Majlis (Parliament). Executive power is carried out by the President, while the judicial power is held by the courts of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

State symbols

Extract from the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan:

Article 23: Azerbaijan State Symbols

1. State symbols of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall be: the Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Emblem of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the state anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
2. The Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan shall consist of three wide stripes. The upper stripe shall be of blue color, the middle stripe shall be red and the lower one shall be green. There shall be a white crescent and eight-pointed star in the middle of the red stripe on both sides of the Flag. The proportion of the width to the length shall be 1 by 2.

III. The design of the Republic of Azerbaijan Flag and the Republic of Azerbaijan State Emblem, the music and the text of the Republic of Azerbaijan state anthem shall be defined by the Constitutional Law.

The Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan

The tricolor flag of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was first adopted at a government meeting on 19 November 1918, and was raised on 7 December 2018 over the building of the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (where the meeting was held.

Extract from the Book of Decisions of the Government of Azerbaijan on the National Flag dated November 9, 1918:

"Heard: Report of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers on the National Flag. It was decided: The flag consisting of green, red and blue colors, white crescent and octagonal star should be considered the national flag.

The flag, which had a state status until 27 April 1920, the collapse of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, was lowered outside the building of the Azerbaijani Parliament on 3 May 1920 as a result of the occupation of Azerbaijan by the Soviet Russian troops. Inherited from Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the flag was approved as the national flag of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic at the session held on 17 November 1990 on the initiative of chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, national leader Heydar Aliyev. At the same time, the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhichivan Autonomous Republic appealed to the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR to recognize the three colored flag as an official state symbol of Azerbaijan. On 5 February  1991, the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan Republic considered the application, and made a decision to recognize the three colored flag as a national flag of Azerbaijan. Under the Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev dated 17 November 2009, November 9 each year marks the national Flag Day in Azerbaijan.

The flag consists of three horizontal stripes of equal width (upper stripe is blue, middle stripe is red, lower stripe is green). In the middle of the red stripe, an octagonal star with a white crescent is depicted on both sides of the flag. The blue color of the national flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan has the meaning of Turkic origin of the Azerbaijani people, red color reflects the desire to establish a modern society, and develop democracy, and the green color shows belonging to Islamic civilization.

Chairman of the Presidium of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic M.A. Rasulzade:

"The three colors of the flag we raise are a symbol of Turkish national culture, Muslim civilization and the democratic foundations of modern Europe."

Author of the official national anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan Uzeyir Hajibeyli:

"This is the meaning of our flag, the color blue is a sign of Turkism, green is a sign of Islam and red is a sign of culture."

National Emblem

The modern national emblem is a modified form of a draft coat of arm, which was created during the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic.

On 30 January 1920, the government of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic announced a competition on the best national emblem of Azerbaijan and made a decision that a sample of the emblem that wins the competition will be adopted on 28 May the same year. But as a result of the collapse of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic on 28 April 1920, it was impossible to make a decision relating to the National Emblem.

On 17 November 1990, the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhichivan Autonomous Republic, after having discussed the issue relating to the national emblem, appealed to the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR on announcement of a new contest for the preparation of the national emblem of Azerbaijan.

The competition was announced on 5 February 1991, under the decision of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan Republic. On 19 January 1993, one of the draft coats of arm developed in 1919-1920 under the Constitutional Law was adopted as the National Emblem of the Republic of Azerbaijan with certain changes.

Extract from the "Constitutional Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the approval of the image of the State Emblem of the Republic of Azerbaijan" dated November 2, 2018:

Article 1. General description

1.1. The National Emblem of the Republic of Azerbaijan is in the form of an eastern shield on a curved wreath consisting of two oak branches and two spikes.

1.2. There is an octagonal star on the shield against the background of the colors of the State Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and a flame in the center of the star. The star is white, the flame is red, the oak branches are green, the spikes are yellow, the bases of the shield and the star, as well as the buttons of the shield (8 pieces) and the oak cones (5 pieces) are golden.

State anthem

On 30 January 1920, the government of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic adopted a resolution on preparing the state anthem of the Republic. In this regard, the Ministry of Public Enlightenment announced a competition for the best state anthem. But because of the fall of ADR on 28 April 1920, the state anthem of Azerbaijan was not adopted.

On 27 May 1992, the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis adopted the law "On the state anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan", which approved the "Azerbaijani march", composed by the great composer Uzeyir Hajibayli and written by poet Ahmad Javad, as the state anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

State anthem

Music by: Useyir Hajibayli

Words by: Ahmad Javad

Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan!

You are the country of heroes!

We will die so that you might be alive!

We will shed our blood to defend you!

Long live your three-colored banner!

Thousands of people sacrificed their lives

You're become the field of battles.

Every soldier fighting for you,

Has become a hero.

We pray for your prosperity,

We make sacrifice our lives to you

Our sincere love to you,

Comes from the bottom of our hearts.

To defend your honor,

To hoist your banner,

All the young people are ready.

Glorious motherland,

Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan!

https://en.president.az/azerbaijan/symbols