Flags of Turkestan

History of the Turkestani flag

The origins of the national flag of Turkestan are during the Basmachi Revolt against Russian rule.

During this period, a number of different flags and banners were in use by different factions and revolutionary groups. Notable among these were the flags of the various native Turkestani polities: the Emirate of Buxara, the Xanates of Xiva and Qoqand, and the three Qazaq Xanates. Also noteworthy were the flags of the forces loyal to the Metropolitan of Samarqand and the Naqshbandi militias.

As the idea of a common Turkestani identity began to take root, various new flags were created. Many of these used the pan-Central Asian colours of sky blue and white, and often incorporated religious or pan-Turkic symbols: the cross of the Assyrian Church, the crescent of Islam, the winged sun of Zoroastrianism and the pan-Turkic wolf. Tajik banners, on the other hand, often incorporated Persian colours - gold, red or purple.

The lack of a common flag or emblem for Turkestan as a state was addressed by Ibrahim Enver on his arrival in the steppe. The issue, connected as it was to the desire of the rebels to be taken seriously by the outside world, catalysed the genesis of the Turkestani flag we know today.

After several false starts, the now-familiar "sun in sky" design was agreed upon, with the sun in gold, from the various Tajik flags, and the field the ubiquitous pan-Turkic blue. As a symbol, it stands for the one sun that shines alike on all of the different ethnic and religious groups of the country. The blue of the sky is also a colour used by nomads to represent freedom and the nomadic way of life, while the gold is the colour of ripe wheat, and thus has Sart or Tajik associations.

In the Snorist period from 1948-1990, the sun emblem was defaced by the Golden Eagle emblem of the Government of National Unity.

National Flags

State of Turkestan 1922-1948	National Union of Turkestan 1948-1990	State of Turkestan 1990-Present

Maritime & Military Flags

The jack and naval ensign typically used by other nations to denote their navies are a relatively recent addition to the set of Turkestani state flags, and only tend to get used in trans-Mazandaran deployments beyond the Caspian Sea. In the Turkestani military tradition, the "Battle Flag" used by all three branches of the service is flown on Turkestani naval vessels. It is normally flown from the masthead.

Jack of Turkestan	Merchant ensign of Turkestan	Naval ensign of Turkestan
Military "Battle Flag" of Turkestan	Aviation roundel - Air Force	Aviation roundel - Guards

Governmental Flags

Flag of the Ilxan of Turkestan

Provincial Flags

Uzbekistan	Qazaqstan	Turcomanistan
Tajikistan	Kirgizstan	Qaraqalpagistan

Historical Flags

Flags of Turkestani Xanates

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Emirate of Buxara	Xanate of Xiva	Xanate of Qoqand
	-	-
Xanate of the Qazaq Great Horde	Xanate of the Qazaq Middle Horde	Xanate of the Qazaq Little Horde

Flags of various Basmachi groups

Pan-Turkist flag	Islamic flag	Federation of Workers' Soviets of Turkestan
Naqshbandi	Metropolitan of Samarqand's forces	Tajik rebel flag

Flags of Minority Groups

Many of the ethnic minority groups in Turkestan use flags as identifying symbols. Some of these are foreign national flags (the Uygurs, Mongolians and Tocharians) or pseudo-national flags (the Lulat and Assyrians), but many others are specific designs or national flag variants used by the different minorities.

Council of Russian Turkestanis	Uygurs of Turkestan	Turkish-Turkestani Friendship Association
Kalmyks of Turkestan	Ethnic Assyrians	Central Asian Gypsies
Tibetan Government-in-exile	Han Chinese of Turkestan	Association of Persian-Turkestani Cooperation
Tocharian minority	Azeri minority of Turkestan	Mongolian minority