List of Chinese flags

This is a list of current and historical Chinese flags used in an official capacity both in:

• The People's Republic of China (PRC), the state that controls mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau. It is commonly known as China.
• The Republic of China (ROC) the state controlling Taiwan, Penghu, Jinmen, and Matsu. It is commonly known as Taiwan.

National flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1949–	Flag of the People's Republic of China	A red field, with a large yellow star at the canton, with four smaller stars to the right. This flag is flown in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
	Mainland: 1928–49 Taiwan: 1945–	Flag of the Republic of China	A red field, with a blue canton containing a 12-ray white sun. This flag flew over Mainland China until 1949, and is presently flown in Taiwan and other islands under the control of the ROC. This flag can be sometimes seen in Mainland China, for unofficial use.

Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1997–	Flag of Hong Kong	A white, five-petal Bauhinia blakeana on a red field
	1999–	Flag of Macau	A lotus flower above a stylized bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed stars on a green field

Cities of the People's Republic of China

As of 18 November 1997, the Government of the People's Republic of China banned localities from making and using local flags and emblems.^[1]

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	May 1997–	Flag of Harbin	A white, five-petal flower surrounding a snowflake on a dark green field

Political divisions of the Republic of China

See also: Administrative divisions of the Republic of China

Below are the flags used in the political divisions of the Republic of China.

Northern Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	2010-	Taipei City
		Hsinchu City
		Taoyuan County

Middle Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	2008–	Taichung City

Islands Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Penghu County

Military flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1862–1890	Used on Qing Dynasty naval ships for identification	same as national flag
	1890–1912	The flag of the Qing Beiyang fleet	A badge commemorating the establishment of the Beiyang fleet
		Flag of the People's Liberation Army	A red field with a yellow star at the canton, and the Chinese numerals for "8" and "1", the date of the PLA's establishment on 1 August 1927.
		Flag of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force	The PLA flag with a green stripe at the bottom.
		Ensign of the People's Liberation Army Navy	The PLA flag with 5 horizontal lines, 3 blue and 2 white at the bottom, representing the sea.
		Flag of the People's Liberation Army Air Force	The PLA flag with a blue stripe at the bottom.
		Flag of the Republic of China Army (formerly National Revolutionary Army)	The Blue Sky with a White Sun with a red border.
		Republic of China Navy	Identical to the Kuomintang flag (see below).
		Republic of China Air Force

Non-state flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1895–	Kuomintang flag.	The "Blue Sky with a White Sun", 12 rays of the sun represent progressive ideals.
	1921–	Flag of the Communist Party of China	Communist hammer and sickle
	1979–	Chinese Taipei's Olympic flag.	The ROC is recognized as "Chinese Taipei" in the Olympics, due to the political status of Taiwan.
		Standard of the President of the Republic of China
		Standard of the Vice President of the Republic of China
		Civil Ensign of the Republic of China	Four serrated yellow stripes are added to the flag of the Republic of China for use as a civil ensign at sea.

Historical national flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1862–90	Flag of the Qing Dynasty	No standard specifications
	1890–1912	Flag of the Qing Dynasty	Replaced old triangular flag
	1895	Flag of the Republic of Formosa
	1912–28	First flag of the Republic of China, or "Five Races Under One Union"	Used mainly in Shanghai and eastern parts of northern China until 1928. This flag was widely flown even before the founding of the Republic of China by Chinese on the eastern coast and garnered the greatest respect at the founding of the ROC. Stripes represent the five great races in China's history, according to Dr. Sun Yat-sen: red for Han Chinese, yellow to represent Manchus, blue as Mongols, white for both Huis and Uyghurs, and black for Tibetans.
	1911–1928	Flag of the Wuchang uprising; army flag of the Republic of China	The banner of the Wuchang uprising of October 10, 1911, subsequently used as the flag of the army of the Republic of China, ca. 1913–28.
	1916	Flags of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China.	These variations on the initial flag of the Republic of China emphasize Han administration over other ethnicities in China.
	Mainland: 1928–49	Flag of the Republic of China	Not used in areas administrated by the People's Republic of China except in historical venues. Currently used as the national flag of the Republic of China.
	1931–34	Jiangxi Soviet republic flag	hammer and sickle along with Chinese characters for China Communist (Zhonggong, 中共) written in classical word order, i.e., read from the right.
	1931–34	Alternate flag of the Jiangxi Soviet republic	Black axe and sickle over a white star, with a red background. Banner to the left reads "Chinese Soviet Republic", read from top to bottom.

Other historical flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1959–1997	Flag of the British colony of Hong Kong	A British Blue Ensign with the coat of arms of Hong Kong (1959–1997).
	1910–1959	Flag of the British colony of Hong Kong	A British Blue Ensign with local waterfront scene.
	1876–1910	Flag of the British colony of Hong Kong	A British Blue Ensign with local waterfront scene.
	1870–1876	Flag of the British colony of Hong Kong	A British Blue Ensign with a crowned "HK".
	1959–1997	Unofficial Red ensign for Hong Kong used prior to the Handover to the PRC in 1997	A British Red Ensign with the coat of arms of Hong Kong (1959–1997).
	1985–1999	Flag of the Regional Council
	1960s – 1999	Flag of the Urban Council, Hong Kong
	1670–1830	Flag of Portugal, used in colonial era Macau	The Portuguese flag was used in colonial-era Macau, as there was no territorial flag.
	1830–1911	Flag of Portugal, used in colonial era Macau	The Portuguese flag was used in colonial-era Macau, as there was no territorial flag.
	1911–1999	Flag of Portugal, used in colonial era Macau	The Portuguese flag was used in colonial-era Macau, as there was no territorial flag.
	1975–1999	Flag of the Municipality of Macau, one of two local municipal governments.	A light blue field charged with the coat of arms of the Municipality of Macau. This was the flag used at the handover to China in 1999.
	1975–1999	Flag of Portuguese colonial Government of Macau.	A light blue field charged with the coat of arms of the Government of Macau. During the Portuguese administration this flag also represented the Territory of Macau in the international forums, although it was not the official flag of the Portuguese colony.
	1895–1945	Flag of the Empire of Japan	Used in Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 and during the Japanese conquests of mainland China. Also used in Hong Kong from 1941 to 1945 during Japanese occupation
	1941–1945	Flag of the Imperial Japanese Army	alternate flag used during the initial occupation of Hong Kong
	until Dec 29, 1928	Flag of Fengtian clique.	Used by warlords until Chinese reunification (1928).
	1932–1945	Flag of Manchukuo	A yellow field with the red, blue, white, and black stripes of the first flag of the Republic of China (see above) in the canton.
	1940–1943	Flag of the Republic of China-Nanjing.	Used by the Japanese puppet government till 1943 when the pennant was removed and the regular ROC flag took its place. The pennant reads "Peace, Anti-Communism, National Construction".

Note that Hong Kong and Macau were handed over to the People's Republic of China in 1997 and 1999 respectively.

References

1. ^ 中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅关于禁止自行制作和使用地方旗、徽的通知 (Chinese Communist Central Governmental Notice to Ban Making and Using Local Flags and Emblems)