This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website

İstanbul (Turkey): Sports flags

Last modified: 2020-09-18 by ivan sache
Keywords: İstanbul |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors


See also:

Football clubs

Fenerbahçe

[Flag]         [Flag]

Flag of Fenerbahçe, two verions - Images by Onur Özgün & Ivan Sache, 22 June 2018

Fenerbahçe was founded nearly a century ago in Kadiköy by Nurizade Ziya Songülen, Ayetullah and Necip Okaner. This group of individuals founded the club secretly in order to keep a low profile and not get into any trouble with the strict Ottoman rule. So strict that Sultan Abdulhamit II forbid the Turkish youth to set up a club and to engage in the football game played by the English families, which was watched in envy.
Until a change of legislation in 1908, Fenerbahçe’s activities were obtained under strict secrecy. After this date however, the new law required that clubs must register in order to exist legally. From that day on, the club was to take its place among the top of the Turkish club’s and achieve much success.
Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü's first football team joined the İstanbul League in 1909 but achieved nothing in its first three seasons. In the 1912-1913 season the team won the first championship of the club. Apart from being the first championship it had more significance as it was won without a single defeat throughout the season.

The flag of Fenerbahçe (photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo) is horizontally divided yellow-blue-yellow-blue with the club's emblem. The flag is also used with the Turkish national flag in canton (photo, photo).
The color specification are given as (club website):

Yellow  Pantone Yellow c
Blue    Pantone 288c
Red     Pantone 485c
Green   Pantone 361c

The five-colored emblem was designed by Topuz Hikmet who played left wing in 1910 and was made by Tevfik Haccar (Taşcı) in London. The white ring inscribed with the writing "Fenerbahçe Spor Kulubu 1907" represents purity and open heartedness. The red section represents love and attachment to the club and symbolizes the Turkish flag. The yellow middle section symbolizes admiration and envy, while the blue sections symbolize nobility. The oak leaves and acorn that rises from the blue and yellow sections shows the power of Fenerbahçe. The green color shows the success of Fenerbahçe.

Topuz Hikmet described the story of the emblem as follows:
"After the change of the club's colors from yellow and white to yellow and blue, it was an issue to create an emblem with our new colors. My friends left the design of this emblem to me.
Firstly, I brought together the colors of our national flag, red and white. Then I drew a heart shape over the red and gave it a yellow and blue color, adding an oak branch that represents resistance, power and strength. I wrote the club name and foundation date on the white section. When drawing our emblem, I tried to give this meaning: "Serving the club with dependence from heart."
The design was liked by my friends and our new emblem was made through the guidance of Tevfik Haccar, who was in Germany at that time. After the new alphabet was approved, the design was maintained, but the club name on the emblem was changed to "Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü - 1907".

The first emblem of the club featured the lighthouse situated on Fenerbahçe Cape, whilst the first colors of the club were white and yellows, taken from the the daffodils that grew profusely on Fenerbahçe peninsula.
[ Club website]

Onur Özgün & Ivan Sache, 22 June 2018

İstanbul Başakşehir

[Flag]

Flag of İstanbul Başakşehir - Image by Ivan Sache, 10 March 2016

Medipol Başakşehir Futbol Kulübü was originally known as İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor (İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality's Municipal Club). The club was renamed Başakşehir Futbol Kulübü in 2014 following the municipality's withdrawal. It took in 2015 the name of its main sponsor, Medipol Eğitim ve Sağlık Grubu (Medipol Education and Health Group).
[Hürriyet, 25 May 2015]

The flag of Medipol Başakşehir (photo) is white with the club's emblem in the middle, surmounting the club's full name written in blue letters.

Ivan Sache, 10 March 2016

İstanbulspor

[Flag]

Flag of İstanbulspor - Image by Ivan Sache, 27 November 2016

İstanbulspor (İstanbulspor A.Ş.) was established in 1926 by students form the İstanbul High School (İstanbul Erkek Lisesi, IEL). The club was managed by the İstanbul High School Foundation until 1990, when purchased by Uzan Holding. After the withdrawal of Uzan in 2001, the club fell into financial crisis. Taken over in 2003 by the government, İstanbulspor was successively acquired by Saffet Sancaklı (2006) and Ömer Sarıalioğlu (2007. Relegated to Third League in 2010, the club was eventually proposed to Second League in 2015.
İstanbulspor played for 23 seasons in the top league (1958-1967, 1968-1972, and 1995-2005), achieving its best season in 1998 (4th) and qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

The flag of İstanbulspor (photo) is yellow with the club's emblem in the middle.
The club's emblem is made of the emblem of the İstanbul High School with the national flag added in canton.

Ivan Sache, 27 November 2016

Yacht clubs

İstanbul Sailing Club

[Flag]         [Burgee]

Flag and burgee of the İYK - Images by Ivan Sache, 26 May 2012

The İstanbul Sailing Club (website), founded on 2 February 1952, is the oldest and biggest yacht club in Turkey, with more than 3,000 members. The club was granted the statute of a "society of public interests". Among its founding members was Captain Ruhi Sarialp, who won with his crew a bronze medal in the London Olympics (1948, Triple Jump series). More recently, club member Enver Adakan ranked 8th in the Sydney Olympics (2000, Finn series).

The flag of the İYK (photo) is white, divided by a blue horizontal Y-like cross. A white star inside a red disc is placed over the cross. The club's burgee is a triangular version of the flag.

[Flag]

Flag used by the İYK - Image by Ivan Sache, 31 July 2019

The flag in current use by club's members (photo, photo) is white with the club's emblem, which features a flying representation of the club's burgee, with all elements, staff and finial included, fimbriated in golden yellow, placed over a blue ring also fimbriated in golden yellow and inscribed in white "İST. / YELKEN KULÜBÜ / 1952", the whole surrounded by two golden wreaths.

[Burgee]

Older burgee of the İYK - Image by Ivan Sache, 26 May 2012

A souvenir plaque dated 1940 shows a rower from the club and a red burgee with a white star. This predates the foundation of the modern club (1952). The white star within the red disk seems to have been taken from this early burgee.

Ivan Sache, 31 July 2019

Turkish Offshore Racing Club

[Burgee]

Burgee of the TAYK - Image by Ivan Sache, 22 June 2002

The burgee of the TAYK (website) is red with a white three-pointed star.

Ivan Sache, 22 June 2002

Other clubs

Enkaspor

[Flag]         [Flag]

Flag of Enkaspor, two versions - Images by Ivan Sache, 28 July 2019

Enkaspor (website) is a multi-sport club established by the ENKA group.
Founded by the late Şarık Tara and his brother in-law, the late Sadi Gülçelik in 1957, ENKA İnşaat ve Sanayi A.Ş. (ENKA; website) is a global engineering and construction firm headquartered.

ENKA is the largest construction company in Turkey and ranked among the ENR's Top International Contractors since 1982. Mr. Mehmet Tara, acting as the President and Chairman of the Executive Committee, is the third generation of the Tara family to lead the company.
Records show that, thus far, ENKA completed 124 projects in Turkey amounting to a contract value of USD 7 Billion, and another 397 projects with a contract value of USD 41,1 Billion have been awarded to ENKA in foreign countries.
ENKA provides services through its subsidiaries in the following areas:
- Power generation (50%)
- Engineering and construction (34 %)
- Real estate (10%)
- Trade (6%)

The ENKA Foundation was established in 1983 to uphold and advance the company's core philosophy and cultural values: to advance the intellectual, physical, and spiritual development of human civilization.
To foster this ambitious aim, the Sadi Gülçelik Sports Complex was established that same year on the green slopes of İstinye, providing enrichment programs that would introduce Turkish youth to sports. In turn, this resulted in the creation of the ENKA Sports Club. Igniting in children and young adults a passion for sports and achievement, through identifying their talent and potential, and offering a top level of training and coaching, this facility raises elite athletes to become champions in the national and international arenas.
Complementing its support of physical fitness through the Sadi Gülçelik Sports Complex, the ENKA Foundation sought outlets to provide educational and social development.

In 1996, ENKA Schools were founded on the same site in İstinye. To counter the devastation incurred in Adapazarı following the 1999 earthquake, ENKA Schools in Adapazarı was established that same year, giving that community much needed support.
In 2008, ENKA Foundation launched two private schools in Kocaeli, ENKA Technical and Industrial Vocational School and ENKA Science and Technology High School.

The club had so far 5,096 licensed athletes, 802 of whom are actively involved in competition; others are trainers who are academy graduates.
Club member Yasemin Can (b. Vivian Jemutai in Kenya in 1996) won two gold medals (5000 m and 10000 m) in the 2016 European Athletics Championship (Amsterdam) and a bronze medal (5000 m) in the 2018 European Athletics Championship (Berlin). She won the gold medal in the European Cross-country Championship in 2016 (Chia) and 2017 (Šamorín).

The club's flag (photo, photo) is white with the club's emblem.
The flag is often used with the club's name written in blue capital letters beneath the emblem (photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo, photo).

Ivan Sache, 28 July 2019

İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality Sport Club

[Flag]         [Flag]         [Flag]

Flag of İBBSK, three verions - Images by Ivan Sache, 30 July 2019

İBBSK (website) was established on 15 June 1990 as the merger of three municipal sport clubs (transport employees, firefighters, and water and sewerage administration). With 20 branches and more than 40,000 licensed athletes, İBBSK is one of the world's biggest sports clubs.

Among the emblematic club's members are four Olympic and/or World champions:
- the wrestler Hamza Yerlikaya (b. 1976; member of İBBSK from 1999 to 2007), Olympic champion in 1996 and 2000, World champion in 1993, 1995 and 2005, named The Wrestler of the Century in 1996 by the International Federation of Association Wrestling Styles;
- the judoka Hüseyin Özkan (b. 1972), Olympic champion in 2000;
- the taekwondo athlete Hamide Bıkçın Tosun (b. 1978), World champion in 1995 and Olympic bronze medalist in 2000;
- the teakwondo athlete Bahri Tanrıkulu (b. 1980), World champion in 2001, 2007 and 2009.

The flag of İBBSK (photo, photo) is horizontally divided blue-orange with the club's emblem, which features the municipal emblem of İstanbul. İBBSK also uses a white flag with the club's emblem (photo), sometimes with a dark blue bend charged with "İBB" / "SPOR" (photo, photo).

Ivan Sache, 30 July 2019

İstanbul Water Sports Club

[Flag]

Flag of İSSK - Image by Ivan Sache, 27 May 2020

The flag of İSSK (photo) is yellow with the club's emblem in the center.

Ivan Sache, 27 May 2020