Why are the Turkish and Pakistani flags much similar?

There is much similarity in flags of Turkey of Pakistan. One can think that these two nations may come from the same origin, that’s why there is much similarity between them. The fact is that the Pakistani flag is inspired by the Turkish flag.
Turkish flag
Pakistani flag


Firstly we will see the meaning of the Pakistani flag. Pakistani flag is known as Parcham-e-Sitara O Hilal (پرچمِ ستاره و ہلال), which means the flag of crescent and star. The green color represents the majority of Muslims while the white represents the minority of other religions (Actual population of Pakistan is the same as this ratio).  The crescent represents the progress and the star represents the Islam with its 5 pillars. Although, the crescent and star is the symbol of Islam as well.

The idea of Pakistani flag:

The current Pakistani flag was formed using the template of the All-India Muslim League. The reason behind is that Pakistan was actually formed with the struggle of the All-India Muslim League.
The flag of All-India Muslim League - see how similar it is with the Turkish flag

The flag of All-India Muslim League was formed with the inspiration of 3 different flags; the Mughal Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Delhi Sultanate.
The flag of Delhi Sultanate


These are different flags of the Mughal Empire during different time periods


The flag of the Ottoman Empire in later days. It was also changed during different time periods. But this was the last flag

So, the reason behind the Pakistani flag’s similarity with the Turkish flag is the inspiration of the Ottoman Empire. The inspiration of the Ottoman Empire was taken by Turkey, and then the Mughal Empire. And that same inspiration was taken by Pakistan. However, Pakistan chose a green color to represent the Muslims because they ruled over South Asia for almost a thousand years. The white color was added after the formation of Pakistan to represent the Non-Muslim minority.

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