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Flags of Turkmenistan

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Flags of Turkmenistan

From the ancient Silk Road oasis of Merv — briefly one of the largest cities in the world under the Seljuks before the Mongols destroyed it — through centuries of self-governing Turkmen tribal confederations, the last Central Asian people conquered by Russia, Soviet rule, and finally a constitutionally neutral republic pursuing one of the world's most isolationist foreign policies.

Seven flags across a landscape more defined by tribe and oasis than by any single central state, until the 20th century imposed one.

Scope of this page: the lands of present-day Turkmenistan, antiquity–present, seven political entities. Part of a larger atlas — see the linked pages at the bottom.

One border, seven rulers

Turkmenistan's own real border, traced whole — another page in this atlas without an internal split to show. Press play, or drag the slider, to watch who held all of it, era to era.

This is one of the countries in the atlas that doesn't split internally. Even the long tribal-confederation era (Teke, Yomut, Ersari, and others) was a patchwork of self-governing groups sharing the same territory rather than dividing it into separate held regions — there's no honest way to carve out sub-borders that were never surveyed or fixed. What changes here is only who claimed or governed the whole span at once.
antiquity
KAZAKHSTAN CASPIAN SEA UZBEKISTAN IRAN AFGHANISTAN TURKMENISTAN
Ancient Turkmen lands and early Merv

Real traced border, no internal partition — see the rule box above for why.

How we know this. 7 of 7 eras on this page carry an evidence panel (1 attested, 1 placeholder image, 5 not yet checked). Only the ones marked attested are confirmed by the sources named under them; where sources disagree or a claim could not be confirmed, the panel says so.
green field, carpet-gul hoist stripe, crescent and stars
1991 – present

Republic of Turkmenistan

Republic, independentSaparmurat NiyazovSecular (no official state religion)
Migration & conquest:Emigration: ethnic Russians & Slavs (post-1991)

Who & why: Turkmenistan declared independence on 27 October 1991. In 1995 it adopted a constitutionally declared status of permanent neutrality, formally recognized by a United Nations General Assembly resolution, and has since pursued one of the world's most famously isolationist foreign policies.

What it represents: a green field with a vertical stripe near the hoist bearing five traditional carpet guls (weaving patterns, one representing each major Turkmen tribe), above a white crescent moon and five stars, adopted in 1992 with minor design adjustments in later years.

Attestedhow we know this

Wikipedia: the current flag was adopted 19 February 1992; Wikipedia's Turkmen SSR infobox labels the Turkmenistan flag 1991-1992 and gives independence declared 27 October 1991. Flags of the World (Turkmenistan): in 1992 (a year after independence) Turkmenistan adopted a new flag with a green field, white crescent and stars, five carpet guls at the hoist and a dark red hoist stripe (Notholt, 1995); olive branches were added on 29 January 1997; current version dated 24 January 2001; the five guls are reportedly named after five tribes.

Not established: The page's 'adopted in 1992' is supported, but the era starts in 1991 and neither source says what flag flew between October 1991 and 1992; the 1997 and 2001 changes (olive branches, redrawn guls) show the flag was not unchanged after 1992.

Paint guide
Proportions2:3.
LayoutGreen field; dark-red carpet-gul stripe near the hoist; white crescent and five stars.
Green#00843D
Carpet-gul red#7C2E1F
Soviet red with hammer & sickle, turquoise stripe near the base
1924 – 1991

Turkmen SSR

Soviet republicJoseph StalinState atheism
Migration & conquest:Immigration: Russian & Slavic settlers (Soviet era)

Who & why: the Turkmen SSR was created in 1924 in the Soviet "national delimitation" of Central Asia, carved from the former Turkestan ASSR and neighboring territories. It remained a Soviet republic until 1991.

What it represents: Wikipedia dates the first Soviet Turkmen flag to 1926 (red, with a gold hammer and sickle and star in the canton), with lettering added 1937 and 1940, two horizontal blue bars across the middle added on 1 August 1953, and the emblems moved to the hoist on 23 September 1974; Flags of the World gives no flag details. The 'turquoise stripe near the base' described earlier on this page does not match Wikipedia's description.

Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this

Wikipedia: the 1926 constitution set a red flag with a gold hammer and sickle and star in the canton; 1937 gold letters; 1940 Cyrillic letters; 1 August 1953 two horizontal blue bars across the middle; 23 September 1974 emblems moved to the hoist. Flags of the World agrees on the main points: 1 August 1953 adoption of the two-blue-bar flag (Heimer 1996; stripe proportions by Sensen), a 1924-1929 commemorative flag with TSSC lettering, 1930s star with hammer and sickle, 1937 Latin initials, 1940s Cyrillic initials. Wikipedia's SSR infobox dates the 1974 flag to 1991.

Not established: Two publishers now agree on the chronology, but this page's drawing (a turquoise stripe near the base with a star in the canton) matches neither the 1953 nor the 1974 flag, so the row stays unreviewed until the drawing is replaced; the 1974 change is not covered by Flags of the World pages read.

Paint guide
Proportions1:2.
LayoutRed field, gold hammer-and-sickle-and-star canton, turquoise stripe near the base.
Red#A4302A
Soviet red, transitional Turkestan-era administration
1917 – 1924

Turkestan ASSR (transitional)

Autonomous republicVladimir LeninState atheism

Who & why: following the 1917 Russian Revolution and civil war, the Transcaspian region became part of the Turkestan ASSR, a post-revolutionary Soviet transitional administration, before the 1924 national delimitation carved out the Turkmen SSR above.

What it represents: the Soviet red flag with hammer-and-sickle emblem, flown across the transitional Turkestan ASSR administration. The sources read (Wikipedia, Flags of the World) do not cover the Turkestan ASSR or its flag.

Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this

Flags of the World (Central Asian khanates) says local Bolsheviks created the Soviet Republic of Turkestan on 30 April 1918, a federated soviet republic from 11 April 1921, dissolved on 27 October 1924; it describes no flag for it, only an anti-Soviet all-Turkestani insurgent flag used 1921-January 1924 and the Basmachi flag. Wikipedia (Turkmen SSR) lists the Turkmen Oblast of the Turkestan ASSR from 7 August 1921 and says the Soviet Politburo divided Central Asia in October 1924.

Not established: The administrative entity is confirmed, but no source read describes any flag of the Turkestan ASSR, and the page's Soviet red flag with hammer and sickle for it is unconfirmed; the Turkmen SSR proclamation date (Wikipedia: 13 May 1925) differs from this page's 1924.

Paint guide
Proportions1:2.
LayoutRed field, gold hammer-and-sickle emblem.
Red#A4302A
Russian imperial tricolor over the Transcaspian Oblast
1881 – 1917

Russian Transcaspian conquest and rule

Empire provinceMikhail SkobelevRussian Orthodox Christianity (imperial state religion)
Migration & conquest:Conquered by: Russian Empire (1881)Immigration: Russian railway workers & administrators
Ruling house:House of Romanov

Who & why: the Turkmen were the last of the Central Asian peoples conquered by Russia. The decisive Battle of Geok Tepe in January 1881 broke Teke Turkmen resistance, and the region was organized as the Transcaspian Oblast of Russian Turkestan.

What it represents: the Russian imperial tricolor, flown across all territory under Russian imperial administration including the newly conquered Transcaspian region. The sources read do not mention the imperial tricolour in Transcaspia; Flags of the World notes only that the Khanate of Merv, annexed in 1884, flew a plain red flag.

Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this

Flags of the World (Turkmenistan): the Khanate of Merv, annexed in 1884, flew a plain red flag. Wikipedia (Transcaspian Oblast): established 1881, abolished 1921 (the lead says it existed until 1924), with a coat of arms but no flag in the infobox. Flags of the World (Central Asian khanates) does not mention Transcaspia or Russian imperial flags.

Not established: The Russian imperial tricolour over the Transcaspian Oblast is not stated in any source read; Wikipedia's end date (1921 or 1924) differs from this page's 1917.

Paint guide
Proportions2:3, three equal horizontal bands.
LayoutWhite, blue, red horizontal bands.
Blue#0039A6
Red#D52B1E
no single flag documented; reconstructed tribal-emblem motif
c. 1500s – 1881

Turkmen tribal confederations

Tribal confederationsNo single ruler documentedSunni Islam (no central state establishment)

Who & why: no central Turkmen state existed in this era. Instead, a patchwork of tribal confederations — the Teke, Yomut, Ersari, and others — governed themselves in practice, under the shifting nominal overlordship or influence of the neighboring Khanate of Khiva, the Emirate of Bukhara, and Persia (Safavid and later Qajar). This fragmented, non-unified span is treated here as one honest bridging entry rather than invented precise sub-periods, ending with Russian conquest in 1881.

What it represents: no single flag is documented for a landscape of self-governing tribal confederations rather than one central state; each tribe had its own carpet gul and tamga (clan emblem) instead. Shown here as an informed reconstruction of that tradition, not a documented banner. The sources read do not describe tribal banners or tamgas; Wikipedia only says the five guls on the modern flag are named for five tribes.

Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this

Wikipedia says the five guls on the modern flag are named for five tribes; Flags of the World (Turkmenistan) says they are reportedly named after five tribes (Notholt 1995) and quotes a 2003 coat-of-arms law naming them akhalteke, salyr, aersary, chovdur and yomut. Neither that page nor the Central Asian khanates page describes tribal banners, tamgas or a flag before 1884, apart from the plain red flag of the Khanate of Merv.

Not established: No source calls the tribal-emblem motif a reconstruction or documents tribal banners or tamgas for 1500-1881; the page already labels the drawing an informed reconstruction.

Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no fixed flag documented.
plain dark field, no fixed banner documented
c. 1040 – c. 1500s

Seljuk Merv, Mongol destruction, and successor rule

Empire / SultanateTughril BegSunni Islam
Migration & conquest:Conquered by: Mongol Empire (1221)

Who & why: the Silk Road oasis city of Merv, in present-day Turkmenistan, was a major Seljuk Empire capital in the 11th and 12th centuries, briefly one of the largest cities in the world. The Mongols destroyed Merv catastrophically in 1221, one of history's most devastating urban sacks, killing much of its population. The region was later absorbed into Timur's empire and its successors before Uzbek khanate influence extended over parts of it.

What it represents: no single fixed state flag is documented across this era's shifting Seljuk, Mongol, and Timurid-successor rule; shown here as an honest placeholder. The sources read are silent on flags for this period.

Not yet checked against sourceshow we know this

Neither Wikipedia nor Flags of the World covers Seljuk, Mongol or Timurid-era flags for the region; additionally read this session without result: Flags of the World's Turkmenistan page, its Central Asian khanates page (Khiva, Bukhara, Turkestan 1921-24 only) and its early Soviet Turkmen page.

Not established: The sources read are silent on flags for c. 1040 to the 1500s; this is not a finding that no flag existed. Flags of the World's 14th-century Book of All Kingdoms pages (linked from other country indexes) were not searched for Turkestan or Merv.

Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no fixed flag documented.
NO FLAG DOCUMENTED
placeholder maroon field — ancient Turkmen lands and early Merv
antiquity – c. 1040

Ancient Turkmen lands and early Merv

No flag documentedNo single ruler documentedZoroastrianism, then Sunni Islam after the 7th–8th c. conquest
Migration & conquest:Conquered by: Arab Caliphate (mid-7th c.)

Who & why: the Kara-Kum oasis settlements, above all Merv, passed through Achaemenid Persian, Hellenistic (following Alexander's conquest), Parthian, and Sasanian-era rule before the early Islamic conquest of the 7th–8th century brought Merv into the caliphate as a major regional capital, a status it held into the Seljuk era above.

What it represents: no securely documented flag survives from this span; national flags as a concept postdate it entirely. Shown here honestly blank rather than invented.

Placeholder imagehow we know this

This page's own caption calls the image a placeholder: «placeholder maroon field — ancient Turkmen lands and early Merv».

Not established: Whether a flag, banner or standard existed in this period was not checked. The colour shown is not evidence of one.

Paint guide
ProportionsN/A — no attested flag.

Reading the tags

No flag documented — pre-Islamic antiquity
Empire / Sultanate — Seljuk, Mongol, Timurid successor rule
Tribal confederations — self-governing Turkmen tribes
Empire province — Russian imperial rule
Autonomous republic — Turkestan ASSR
Soviet republic — Turkmen SSR
Republic, independent — modern Turkmenistan
Leader — the named ruler most associated with the era's start
State religion — the official/established faith, not the population's

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Compiled from Wikipedia, Flags of the World (fotw.info / crwflags.com), and Britannica. Colors are close historical approximations for painting reference; pre-19th-century swatches are informed reconstructions, not official specifications.