Turkestan, 1921

In Samarkand, in September 1921, the Union of Central Asian Islamic National Insurgent Organisations instituted an all-Turkestani flag. This very popular flag was accepted by the Turkestani state constitution in April 1922 and used until January 1924 when the last part of Turkestani territory fell to the Red Army. The flag was associated with the Basmachi movement, an uprising against Russian Imperial and Soviet rule by the Muslim peoples of Central Asia. The flag consisted of nine alternating stripes of 5 red and 4 white, representing historical regions of Turkestan, with an orange rectangle, bearing a white star and crescent, located next to the hoist between the two upper and two lower stripes. Around all four sides of the flag was a very narrow border in a light blue colour, common to Mongol and Turkic peoples. A simpler version with a light red rectangle instead of orange and no blue border was also reported as a Basmachi flag.