The crescent on Turkey’s national flag is white. It appears with a white five-pointed star on a red field, slightly left of centre.
Turkey’s flag is commonly called the Ay Yıldız, meaning “moon-star,” and the Al Bayrak, or “red flag.” The crescent-and-star design has roots in Ottoman flags and was introduced in its recognizable form in 1844 during the Ottoman Empire’s Tanzimat period.
The Republic of Turkey retained the design after its establishment in 1923. The Turkish Flag Law of 29 May 1936 standardized important features, while a later law in 1983 set out the criteria for the flag’s current form.
The white crescent is sometimes confused with the red field because the flag is often described simply as Turkey’s “red flag.” The red background is visually dominant, but both the crescent and star are officially white. Popular legends attach symbolic meanings to the colours and shapes, but the flag’s formal design is the key fact.