A number of flags have been used to represent the cultural and geographical region of East Turkestan in Central Asia, particularly by states that broke away from China during rebellions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

[1] Seyyid Yaqub Khan Töre, an official Kokandi envoy, made four trips to Istanbul from 1865 to 1875 to request Ottoman support for Yakub Beg.

[5] Pan-Turkic and pan-Islamic sentiments among the Turkic population of East Turkestan culminated in local resistance against Chinese rule and the foundation of the republic in Khotan.

[8] The design of a blue field with a white star and crescent, nearly identical to the Turkish flag, was meant to symbolise the republic's cultural and political ties to Turkey.

The Turkish foreign minister acknowledged Turkey's "feelings for a people which speaks her language" and reasserted the right of every nation to self-determination, but immediately denied any connection to the republic.

[9] Soviet diplomatic pressure kept Turkish political influence out of Central Asia in general, and the republic collapsed with the capture of Kashgar by the Hui Muslim forces of the Ma clique on 6 February 1934.

[10] The new state was covertly supported by the Soviet Union, but its leadership was dominated by religious conservatives who saw it as a restoration of the First East Turkestan Republic.

[12] Seypidin Azizi, a member of the ETR government who would later become the first chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, described an additional flag in his biographical work The Eagle of Tian Shan – The Life of Abdulkerim Abbas.

[16] The flag has also been flown at numerous anti-Chinese government protests, including demonstrations held in Istanbul, Washington D.C., New York City, Hong Kong, and Taipei.