BISHKEK: On Wednesday, Kyrgyzstan’s parliament approved a new design for the country’s flag, following complaints from President Sadyr Japarov and others that the current one resembled a sunflower, a symbol of instability and subservience in the local culture.
The flag of Kyrgyzstan, which was adopted in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, features a yellow sun – which also represents the top of a traditional Kyrgyz yurt tent – with 40 rays on a red background.
However, the curved shape of the rays drew the attention of some lawmakers in September who argued that they looked more like sunflower petals.
A sunflower is a symbol of fickleness and servility in the Kyrgyz culture, similar to how some European languages use a weathercock to describe someone who changes loyalty for personal gain.
This kind of image might be offensive in a country that relies heavily on its bigger neighbours for its economic survival. Out of less than seven million people, more than a million Kyrgyz work overseas.
Many people in our society have the impression that our flag resembles a sunflower, and that this is one of the factors that prevents our country from rising up,” President Japarov remarked last month, speaking about the initiative.
