Azerbaijan celebrates National Flag Day

Today marks National Flag Day in Azerbaijan, Report informs.

According to the order of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, dated November 17, 2009, November 9 is celebrated as National Flag Day in the country.

After the Republic of Azerbaijan regained its independence, the tricolor flag of Azerbaijan became a symbol of national sovereignty.

This flag, a memorial of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, demonstrates Azerbaijan's commitment to its ideology of freedom, national and moral values, and universal ideals.

The three-color national flag of Azerbaijan was approved by the government of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) on November 9, 1918, and had state status until April 1920. Many years later, on November 17, 1990, at a session held on the initiative and under the leadership of the Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, the National Leader of the Azerbaijani people, Heydar Aliyev, this flag was approved as the flag of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

On February 5, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted the Law on the State Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan and declared it the state flag. On October 18, 1991, by the Constitutional Act "On State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan," Azerbaijan, as the successor of the ADR, restored its state symbols, including the state flag.

The legislative framework has been improved with the adoption of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan, "On the Use of the National Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan," on June 8, 2004. According to the order, the state flag is raised on the buildings of Azerbaijan's state bodies and diplomatic missions, at significant international events, prestigious ceremonies and meetings, large-scale public-political conferences, cultural events, and sports competitions to symbolize national unity.

In November 2009, according to the Annex to the Labor Code on National Flag Day, November 9 was included in the list of non-working days in the country.