Kökbayraq
UseNational flag and ensign
Proportion2:3
Adopted1933
DesignA blue field with a white crescent moon and five-pointed star slightly left of centre.[1]

The Kökbayraq (lit. 'sky flag') is a flag used unofficially to represent the historic region of East Turkestan in Central Asia. The flag was originally used as the national flag of the short-lived breakaway state known as the First East Turkestan Republic (1933–1934). The Kökbayraq 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 the First East Turkestan Republic during Declaration of independence.[2] With the exception of the blue background, the flag is identical to the Flag of Turkey. Uyghurs in Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan fly the flag as their ethnic flag.

Usage

In modern times it is popularly used as a symbol of the East Turkestan independence movement and is claimed by the East Turkistan Government in Exile to be the national flag of an independent East Turkestan.[3] It is actively used by Uyghur 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, and is also found on the flag of the White Hun (Hephthalite) Empire and various other Turkic empires and states.[1]

Dimensions

President of the First East Turkestan Republic, Khoja Niyaz, in front of the flag. January 1934
Construction of the flag
Letter Measure Length
G Width
A Distance between the centre of the outer crescent and the seam of the white band 1⁄2 G
B Diameter of the outer circle of the crescent 1⁄2 G
C Distance between the centres of the inner and outer circles of the crescent 1⁄16 G
D Diameter of the inner circle of the crescent 2⁄5 G
E Distance between the inner circle of the crescent and the circle around the star 1⁄3 G
F diameter of the circle around the star 1⁄4 G
L Length 1+1⁄2 G
M Width of the white hem at the hoist 1⁄30 G

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "National Flag". East Turkistan Government in Exile. 4 March 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ Constitution – East Turkistan Government in Exile. Article 4.
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