Flag of East Turkestan
The flag of East Turkestan (Uyghur: شەرقىي تۈركىستان بايرىقى / Sherqiy Türkistan bayriqi / Шерқий Түркистан Байриқи), also known as the Kökbayraq ("sky flag"), was the national flag of the First East Turkestan Republic (1933–1934). The East Turkestan Flag has a white crescent (young waning moon) with a five pointed star on blue background, it was adopted on 12 November 1933 as the national flag of East Turkestan during Declaration of the Turkish Islamic Republic of East Turkestan.[2] With the exception of the blue background, the flag is identical to the Flag of Turkey.
 | |
| Name | Kökbayraq |
|---|---|
| Use | National flag and ensign |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | 11 November 1933 |
| Design | A blue (#0099FF) field with a white crescent moon and five-pointed star slightly left of centre.[1] |
 Variant flag of East Turkestan | |
| Use | National flag and ensign  |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | 12 November 1944 |
| Design | A blue (#0099FF) field with a white crescent moon and five-pointed star pointing to the upper-left. |
Usage
In modern times it is popularly used as a symbol of the East Turkestan independence movement and used by the East Turkistan Government in Exile as the national flag of East Turkestan.[3] It is actively used by Uyghur / East Turkistani activists in protests against China's genocide of Uyghurs and the re-education camp system in Xinjiang.
The light blue colour (background) is taken from the colour of the sky and is a predominant colour in Turkic culture that represents the sky, essentially the blue represents Turkic peoples. The crescent represents the notion of being victorious (un-defeatable) and is not necessarily an Islamic symbol, in-fact it was the Turks that introduced the crescent into the Islamic world. The star represents the Turkic nation, it is also found on the flag of the White Hun (Hephthalite) Empire and various other Turkic empires and states.[1]
Flag Of East Turkestan Media
President of the First East Turkestan Republic, Khoja Niyaz, in front of the flag. January 1934
Construction of East Turkestan flag.
Flag of the Second East Turkestan Republic
Protesters with the Kökbayraq in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York City
The Kökbayraq at an East Turkestan independence event in Washington D.C.
Uyghur woman dancing in front of a large Kökbayraq in Washington D.C.
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Related pages
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "National Flag". East Turkistan Government in Exile. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ↑ Klimeš, Ondřej (3 November 2014). "Nationalism and modernism in the East Turkestan Republic, 1933–34". Central Asian Survey. 34 (2): 162–176. doi:10.1080/02634937.2014.976947. S2CID 144960375. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ↑ Constitution – East Turkistan Government in Exile Archived 2018-04-02 at the Wayback Machine. Article 4.