We most certainly need a new flag

I write in reply to ‘Is it time for a new flag?’ (Sunday Mail, August 30). As it stand the Cyprus flag is a reflection of the island’s condition; a drifting island in an undefined space, disassociated from the world and as attractive as a stained baby diaper. Most Cypriots have little or no interest or respect for it.

The flag may have won hearts at its conception and does have a symbolic quality perhaps more suited as a logo or editorial illustration. It would seem it is not sufficiently strong, structured or dramatic to touch the patriotic soul of the Greek Cypriots.

I therefore agree with Mr Georgiou; let there be a competition to re-design this flag and allow it to celebrate the island’s historical importance, embrace its Greek heritage and thereby give hope, inspiration and direction to the new generations of Cyprus.

And as to the ‘what if’s’ of the future – are the Greek Cypriots to hang in limbo (as the present flag suggests) waiting for a decision in order to decide who they are?

They already know who they are and simply need a strong backbone to adhere to and a strong enough symbol to represent them.

Bettina Heinrichs Hadjicharalambous,
Ayios Tychonas

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.