The main contractor, Dia Holdings, is owned by actors that are linked to Azerbaijan's ruling Aliyev family's network of offshore companies.

[5] The three flame-shaped towers are intended to symbolize the elements of fire, and are a reference to Azerbaijan's nickname "The Land of Fire", historically rooted in a region where natural gas flares emit from the ground and Zoroastrian worshipers considered flames to be a symbol of the divine (notably at the Ateshgah of Baku and Yanar Dag).

[8] The Flame Towers are completely covered with LED screens that display the movement of a fire, visible from the farthest points of the city.

The facades of the three Flame Towers function as large display screens with the use of more than 10,000 high-power LED luminaires, supplied by the Osram subsidiary Traxon Technologies and Vetas Electric Lighting.

The towers are also a prominent landmark in the video game Battlefield 4, with the first level of the single player campaign taking place in Baku.