What plant branches appear below the map on Cyprus's flag?

Olive branches appear below the map on Cyprus’s flag. They are shown in green on a white field beneath a copper-coloured outline of the island.

The flag was adopted when Cyprus became independent on 16 August 1960. Its deliberately neutral design avoided the blue and red associated with Greece and Turkey, as well as crosses and crescents. That neutrality was intended to represent cooperation between the island’s Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities.

The two olive branches are traditional symbols of peace. They do not represent palm, oak or laurel trees, although those plants also appear frequently in national symbols and heraldry. The white background reinforces the flag’s peaceful visual theme.

The copper-coloured map is another distinctive detail: it refers to Cyprus’s historic copper deposits and may relate to the island’s name. The official design was updated in 2006, including changes to the branch shape, colours and flag proportions.