| Plain Yellow Banner | |
|---|---|
 Flag of the Plain Yellow Banner | |
| Active | 1601 – 1912 |
| Country | Later Jin China |
| Allegiance | Qing dynasty |
| Type | Cavalry Musketeers |
| Part of | Eight Banners |
| Commander | NurhaciThe Emperor |
| Plain Yellow Banner | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 正黃旗 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 正黄旗 | ||||||
| |||||||
| Mongolian name | |||||||
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Шулуун шар хошуу | ||||||
| Manchu name | |||||||
| Manchu script | ᡤᡠᠯᡠ ᠰᡠᠸᠠᠶᠠᠨ ᡤᡡᠰᠠ | ||||||
| Möllendorff | gulu suwayan gūsa | ||||||
ThePlain Yellow Banner (Chinese:正黃旗) was one of theEight Banners ofManchu military and society during theLater Jin andQing dynasty of China. The Plain Yellow Banner was one of three "upper" banner armies under the direct command of theemperor himself, and one of the four "right wing" banners.[1] The Plain Yellow Banner was the original banner commanded personally byNurhaci. The Plain Yellow Banner and the Bordered Yellow Banner were split from each other in 1615, when the troops of the original four banner armies (Yellow, Blue, Red, and White) were divided into eight by adding a bordered variant to each banner's design.[2] After Nurhaci's death, his sonHong Taiji became khan, and took control of both yellow banners. Later, theShunzhi Emperor took over the Plain White Banner after the death of his regent,Dorgon, to whom it previously belonged. From that point forward, the emperor directly controlled three "upper" banners (Plain Yellow, Bordered Yellow, and Plain White), as opposed to the other five "lower" banners.[3][4]
The flag of the Plain Yellow Banner eventually became the basis of theFlag of the Qing dynasty.