The Kökbayraq ("sky flag"), anglicised as the Kokbayraq, is a flag unofficially used to represent the

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

region of China and the historic region of

East Turkestan East Turkestan ( ug, شەرقىي تۈركىستان, Sherqiy Türkistan, bold=no; zh, s=东突厥斯坦; also spelled East Turkistan), is a loosely-defined geographical and historical region in the western provinces of the People's Republic of ...

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

. The flag was originally used as the national flag of the short-lived breakaway state known as the

First East Turkestan Republic The Turkic Islamic Republic of East Turkestan (TIRET; ug, شەرقىي تۈركىستان تۈرك ئىسلام جۇمھۇرىيىتى, , Шәрқий Түркистан Түрк-Ислам Җумхурийити; ) was a short-lived breakaway ...

(1933–1934). The Kökbayraq has a white crescent (young

waning moon Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the t ...

) 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. With the exception of the blue background, the flag is identical to the

Flag of Turkey The national flag of Turkey, officially the Turkish flag ( tr, Türk bayrağı), is a red flag featuring a white star and crescent. The flag is often called "the red flag" (), and is referred to as "the red banner" () in the Turkish national an ...

Uyghurs in Kyrgyzstan There is a population of Uyghurs in Kyrgyzstan ( ky, Кыргызстандагы уйгурлар, قىرعیزستانداعی ۇيعۇرلار, ''Kırgızstandagı uygurlar''), who mostly came to the country in three separate migrations throu ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

fly the flag as their ethnic flag.

Usage

In modern times it is popularly used as a symbol of the

East Turkestan independence movement The East Turkestan independence movement ( ug, شەرقىي تۈركىستان مۇستەقىللىق ھەرىكىتى; zh, s=东突厥斯坦独立运动) is a political movement that seeks the independence of East Turkestan, a large and spa ...

and is claimed by the

East Turkistan Government in Exile The East Turkistan Government-in-Exile ( also known as the Government in Exile of the Republic of East Turkistan; abbreviated ETGE) is a parliamentary-based exile government established and headquartered in Washington, D.C. by Uyghurs, Kazakhs ...

to be the national flag of an independent

.Constitution – East Turkistan Government in Exile
Article 4. 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.

Dimensions

Gallery

File:Flag of the Second East Turkestan Republic.svg, Another version that existed during the second republic File:$1000 East Turkistan Dollar Note – 1945.png, A banknote issued by the government of the Second Republic. File:Ehmetjan Qasimi and delegates of the central government.jpg, File:Uyghur protest in Munich 2008.jpg, Uyghur man with Kökbayraq flag in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

File:İstanbul 6897.jpg, Kökbayraq flag in a shop in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

File:Uyghur People Demand Freedom with Flag of East Turkestan in front of the U.N. Building in NYC 維吾爾人在紐約聯合國大樓外高舉東突厥斯坦國旗要求自由.jpg, Protesters with Kökbayraq flag in front of the UN building in New York City File:East Turkestan (14674325238).jpg, Uyghurs holding the flag in an event File:East Turkestan (14860939045).jpg, Uyghur woman dancing in front of the flag in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

File:East Turkestan (14880799783).jpg, Uyghur man with the flag

References

{{reflist Former countries in Chinese history Obsolete national flags

East Turkestan independence movement

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

Usage

Dimensions

Gallery

See also

References