The flag, the anthem, the first military parade and other stories from the early years of the Republic.
Perhaps the most “widely unknown” aspect of the troubled story of Cyprus’ independence is that the historic day on which the Republic of Cyprus was officially born was not October 1, but August 16, 1960, as a result of the infamous Zurich-London Agreements, which had been signed some time earlier.
There are, however, other interesting facts connected to the country’s eventful journey towards independence, which may also be lesser-known aspects of our modern history, particularly among younger generations who did not experience them.
The first raising of the Cyprus flag
According to the website of the General Staff of the National Guard, the first raising of the Cyprus flag took place on August 16, 1960, at the building of the House of Representatives in Nicosia. It is worth remembering that the flag, featuring the shape of Cyprus and an olive branch, was inspired and designed by Turkish Cypriot painter İsmet Vehat Güney as a symbol of peaceful coexistence and harmony. The white background symbolises sincerity and purity, while the pale yellow colour of the map of Cyprus represents copper, from which the island also derives its name. The two olive branches symbolise peace between the two communities.
The Cypriot anthem composed by Solon Michaelides
Following independence in 1960, Greek Cypriot composer Solon Michaelides was commissioned to compose an anthem for the Republic of Cyprus. He completed the composition in 1963, and it was used on some official occasions. However, it was ultimately never made the national anthem in the sense of being formally adopted. Following the intercommunal unrest of 1963 and 1964, its use was abandoned. On November 18, 1966, by a decision of the then Council of Ministers, “Hymn to Liberty” by Dionysios Solomos was adopted as the national anthem of the Republic of Cyprus.
The first major military parade
The first major military parade of the National Guard to mark Independence Day was held in 1982, during the presidency of Spyros Kyprianou.
In other words, more than 32 years had passed since the island gained independence. During that period, the country had experienced intercommunal unrest, the coup, the Turkish invasion and the tragic events that followed. The Digital Herodotus archive features a report by the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (RIK) from that first parade.
The flags along the Green Line
The flag of the Republic of Cyprus was first placed along the Green Line, next to the Greek flag, in the mid-1980s, by which time the flag of the newly established, self-declared state in the north had also been placed alongside the Turkish flag. During the first decade after the invasion, only Greek and Turkish flags were displayed at the checkpoints on their respective sides.
School holiday
October 1 was established as a school holiday in 1979, 20 years after independence. As journalist Apostolos Kouroupakis reported in an earlier article in Kathimerini, a circular dated September 26, 1979, stated that “the protection and strengthening of the statehood of Cyprus [...] is imperative.” The circular also stressed that “under no circumstances is the undermining of the institutions, symbols and bodies of state authority permitted or tolerated, as had been systematically done in the past, when various pretexts were used to deliberately blur concepts such as state and nation, resulting in the tragic experience of the treacherous coup of 1974 and the invasion of Attila.”
