Ottoman Empire: Sultan's standard

Last modified: 2026-03-07 by ian macdonald
Keywords: crescent (white) | star (white) | tugra | sultan |
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• Imperial standard, 1917
• Naval flag of the Sultan
• 1800s Flag chart

See also:

• Ottoman Empire
• Ottoman Empire: Index of all pages
• Ottoman Empire: Flags shown in National Geographic (1917)

Other site of interest:

• Ottoman Sultan Tugras website (Turkish / English website)

Imperial standard, 1917

image by Željko Heimer, 20 April 2003

The flag, shown as #1018 in National Geographic (1917) [gmc17], is a red flag with the Imperial tugra within a rayed ornament, all in white.
The Sultan at the time would be Mehmed V Reşad Gazi (ruling 1909-1918), whose tugra can be found on the Tugras website and was used for the above image.

Željko Heimer, 20 April 2003

Naval flag of the Sultan

image by Željko Heimer, 19 June 1996

The naval flag of the Sultan was pink with a kind of star in the center (similar to that of Emirate of Afghanistan), with the white moon crescent and the star (five points) in the interior. The flag of the Imperial retinue was similar to the naval flag but swallow-tailed.

Željko Heimer, 19 June 1996

1800s Flag chart

image located by William Garrison, 15 February 2026
[Click on image for larger version]

Listed on eBay at https://www.ebay.com/itm/297718632897

A page from a flag-chart book showing various Ottoman Empire flags of 1800s?

William Garrison, 15 February 2026