The Red Kaganate

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Color Symbolism "The colour symbolism of the pre-Islamic Turks reflected Budhist rather than Sassanian traditions, particularly in its association with the four points of the compass. It was also linked to the colours of various types of horse ridden by elite units, or with armies responsible for the defense of certain frontiers. The most senior 'colour' within this Central Asian tradition was gold which was used for the tents of senior rulers in the Turco-Mongol steppes and in Tibet. White was another deeply symbolic colour, representing purity among the Manicheans. It was also adopted by rebels fighting the Uighurs khans and others fighting the Muslim Umayyads in eastern Iran in the 8th century; perhaps hinting that the rebels were undeer Manichean influence. The 'white raiment' rebels led by al-Muqanna' against 'Abbasid rule in Khurasan and Transoxiana in 778/9 also seem to have been a mixture of Manichaeans, followers of the old Persian Mazdaist religion and early manifestations of Muslim Shiism." (Nicolle, Sourcebook) "The colours used in Islamic flags eventually reflected religious or political affiliation... red... became a Sunni colour in India and the Ottoman Empire. Within Muslim Iran there was a revival of the old Sassanian colours and banners in the 10th century..." (Nicolle, Sourcebook) [Russia] "...an emphasis on scarlet shields, banners and flagpoles in the 12th-13th-century Prince Igor epic may have come from Romano-Byzantine tradition." (Nicolle, Sourcebook) Citations to "Nicolle, Sourcebook" are to - David Nicolle, Medieval Warfare Sourcebook: Christian Europe and its Neighbors, Brokhampton Press, London, 1998.