This Week In Vexillology #69

This week our Vexillological tour of the Russian Federation wraps up right back where it started with the Republic of Adygea, which is an enclave Republic completely surrounded by the Krasnodar Krai.  It's capitol is Maykop and it's flag has a very interesting design and an equally interesting history to it:

The green in the flag represents the forests and the vegetation of the Caucuses- the 12 stars represent the 12 individual tribes of Adygea- the nine of the outside represent the aristocratic tribes, while the three under the arc, above the arrows represent the democratic tribes.  The arrows symbolize peace, while the gold color of the stars and arrows represent the plentiful harvest of grain and wheat. (There's another interpretation to this flag that says that the arrows are for resistance, green for agriculture and gold for freedom.)

But here's the twist where it comes to the Republic of Adygea- guess who designed this flag?  A guy by the name of David Urquhart- in the 1830s!  A Scottish diplomat and a writer and a member of Parliament from 1847-1852 he was active in the Balkans and Turkey and yes, in the Caucuses, especially during the Crimean War.  All in all, he sounds like a pretty interesting guy.

So that's it for the flags of the Russian Federation- we're back to business as usual next week, so remember, until next time, remember to keep your flags flying, FREAK or otherwise!