How to draw the flag of Turkey

The flag of Turkey is a red field with a white crescent opening towards the fly and a white five-pointed star just beyond its tips. Below is how to construct it step by step, with the measurements written as fractions so they work at any size — on paper, on a whiteboard or in an art program. If you would rather test yourself first, you can draw it from memory and get scored.

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Step by step

  1. Start with a rectangle in the proportions 3:2. If you are working on paper, 15 cm wide by 10 cm tall is a convenient size — every measurement below is given as a fraction, so any size works as long as the shape is right.
  2. Fill the whole rectangle with red (#e30a17).
  3. Draw a white crescent: start with a circle of radius 25% of the height, then cut a slightly smaller circle out of it, offset towards the fly. Cutting rather than drawing the shape freehand is what gives you clean, sharp horns.
  4. Add a white 5-pointed star, 13% of the height in radius, at 55% across and 50% down.

The colours

These are the shades used in the reference drawing. Official specifications are usually given in Pantone; the hex values below are the closest common screen equivalents.

The mistakes people make

One more thing worth knowing: Turkey belongs to the crescent-and-star flags. Check which side the crescent opens towards and whether the field is split before you draw. If you are drawing several flags, do the ones in this group back to back — the differences stick far better that way.

Test yourself

Reading how a flag is built and being able to reproduce it from memory are different skills, and the gap between them is bigger than most people expect. Draw the flag of Turkey from memory and the game will score how close you got, or try today's flag if you want to be surprised.

Other flags to draw