The flag of Tatarstan was introduced on 29th of November in 1991. It shows three horizontal stripes in green, white and red, but the white stripe is only a very slender separating stripe. Green stands for the Tatars and is the colour of the Islam, red stands for the Russians. The white stripe symbolizes the peace between this population groups. The flags, which were used in the Soviet era corresponded all to the same pattern as it was intended for the Soviet Autonomous Republics: Between 1923 and 1937 frequently only a single-coloured red bunting with a golden inscription, showing the name of the country. Sometimes only as a shortcut, sometimes the full name, sometimes only in Russian or even multilingual. From about 1937 hammer, sickle and star were sometimes added. From about the mid-50s multicolored flags were introduced for the republics of the Soviet Union, whose knitting patterns had to be taken over by the subordinated autonomous Soviet republics.
The heart of the coat of arms is an animal representation. It is a snow leopard, called "Ak Bars". It dates back to the Wolgabulgars Empire and the Khanate of Kazan, both previous states of today's Tatarstan.
1236 · Mongol invasion, establishment of the Khanate of Kasan, later islamization
1552 · conquest by Russia under Tsar Ivan IV. (Ivan the Terrible), later formation of the Gouvernement of Kasan
1917 · establishment of the Soviet power
27th of May 1920 · formation of the Tatarian Autonomous Socialistic Soviet Republic
1927 · introduction of the Latin typeface
1936 · introduction of the Cyrillic typeface
30.08.1990 · Tatarstan declares its sovereignty
31st of December in 1991 · the Soviet Union dissolves, the constitution of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (RSFSR, Russia), a former substate of the Soviet Union, remains in force for the time being
25th of December in 1993 · a new constitution for Russia (Russian Federation) comes into force, and the relationships with the members of the federation is re-regulated in this way
"Tatarstan" means "Land of the Tatars". The Tatars have been originally a Mongolian tribe, but this denomination was used from the Russians for all under the leadership of the Mongols invading tribes and nations, also for the Turk nations, to which the Tatars belong.
