Banner of Kurshermat

There is little known about the flags of the Basmachi during the period. However one banner was captured by the Red Army in 1921 - it is now in the State Museum of History of Uzbekistan in Tashkent. The banner is that of the Basmachi unit led by a local landowner named Kurshermat. The red banner is rectangular fringed red cloth 95 cm wide and 115 cm long. The field bears the inscription embroidered in white Arabic script : There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah - from Allah the only religion is Islam. In the upper hoist there is a crescent and star in white. Note that the image is of the reverse of the banner (the crescent and star is at the top hoist). It is not known if this was a "one-off" or the pattern for banners for all the Basmachi units. The source for the flag is an article in The Flag Bulletin issue 95 (July 1982) The Captured Banner of Kurshermat - article by the Russian vexillolog V. A. SOKOLOV.