Amazon sells historical flags of East Turkestan, which prompted me to post the following essay on their site...
This is the flag of the “Second East Turkestan
Republic”, somewhat confusingly often referred to as the EST, the same
abbreviation also being used to denote the quite distinct “First East Turkestan
Republic”. East Turkestan, Sinkiang or Xinjiang is an area in Inner Asia
controlled by China. The Uyghurs are the main non-Chinese ethnic group. They
are a Turkic people and profess Islam.
During the 1930's and 1940's, large portions of Xinjiang were under Soviet domination. The Soviet warlord of choice, Sheng Shicai (originally from Manchuria and hence without roots in Xinjiang), had proven unreliable during World War II, first defecting to the Kuomintang and later attempting to re-defect (or whatever is the proper term) to the Soviet side. After rebuffing Sheng, who de-re-defected (?) to the Kuomintang and later became a CIA asset on Taiwan, the Soviets transferred their sympathies to Ehmetjan Qasimi, a pro-Communist intellectual and leader of the Uyghur-dominated Ili Rebellion in northern Xinjiang.
The “Second East Turkestan Republic” was the result of the Soviet-supported rebellion, and existed from 1944 to 1949. It was in practice a Soviet puppet state, similar in character to East Germany and other Communist-dominated regimes established in Europe after World War II. When Mao's Communists proclaimed the People's Republic of China, Stalin ordered the ERT to dissolve and its territory to be incorporated into China. When Qasimi and other Uyghur leaders refused (perhaps out of fear of Han Chinese domination), Stalin had them all killed in a mysterious plane crash!
The flag of the Second ERT is clearly inspired by the so-called Blue Banner used by the First ERT. Blue is the color of the Göktürks, an ancient Turkic tribal federation in Inner Asia. The crescent and the star are Muslim symbols, but can also be given a Turkic ethnic interpretation, since they are used on the flag of Turkey. While the flag of the Second ERT is forgotten today, the original Blue Banner is still used by anti-Chinese Uyghur separatists in the diaspora.
During the 1930's and 1940's, large portions of Xinjiang were under Soviet domination. The Soviet warlord of choice, Sheng Shicai (originally from Manchuria and hence without roots in Xinjiang), had proven unreliable during World War II, first defecting to the Kuomintang and later attempting to re-defect (or whatever is the proper term) to the Soviet side. After rebuffing Sheng, who de-re-defected (?) to the Kuomintang and later became a CIA asset on Taiwan, the Soviets transferred their sympathies to Ehmetjan Qasimi, a pro-Communist intellectual and leader of the Uyghur-dominated Ili Rebellion in northern Xinjiang.
The “Second East Turkestan Republic” was the result of the Soviet-supported rebellion, and existed from 1944 to 1949. It was in practice a Soviet puppet state, similar in character to East Germany and other Communist-dominated regimes established in Europe after World War II. When Mao's Communists proclaimed the People's Republic of China, Stalin ordered the ERT to dissolve and its territory to be incorporated into China. When Qasimi and other Uyghur leaders refused (perhaps out of fear of Han Chinese domination), Stalin had them all killed in a mysterious plane crash!
The flag of the Second ERT is clearly inspired by the so-called Blue Banner used by the First ERT. Blue is the color of the Göktürks, an ancient Turkic tribal federation in Inner Asia. The crescent and the star are Muslim symbols, but can also be given a Turkic ethnic interpretation, since they are used on the flag of Turkey. While the flag of the Second ERT is forgotten today, the original Blue Banner is still used by anti-Chinese Uyghur separatists in the diaspora.
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