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| "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth" (青天白日滿地紅) | |
| Use | Civil andstate flag,national ensign  |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | 1895 (1895) (byRevive China Society, original version) 1906 (1906) (addition of the red field) 23 October 1911 (1911-10-23) (naval flag) 5 May 1921 (1921-05-05) (byGuangzhou government) 9 December 1928 (1928-12-09) (in mainland China) 25 October 1945 (1945-10-25) (in Taiwan) 24 October 1954 (1954-10-24) (standardized)[1] |
| Design | A red field with a navy bluecanton bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays |
| Designed by | Lu Haodong (Thecanton of the flag) Sun Yat-sen (The red field of the flag) |
| "Blue Sky with a White Sun" flag (青天白日旗) Republic of China naval jack | |
 Naval jack | |
| Use | Naval jack |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | 1895 |
| Design | A whiteSun with twelve rays on a navy blue background. |
| Designed by | Lu Haodong |
 Army flag | |
| Use | War flag |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Design | A red field with a navy blue rectangular center with a white sun with twelve rays on top of the blue. |
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| Use | Presidential standard |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Design | A red field with a yellow border and navy blue circle on the top, a white sun with twelve rays is on top of the blue. |
| Flag of the Republic of China | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 中華民國國旗 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 中华民国国旗 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Republic of China flag | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Blue Sky, White Sun and a Wholly Red Earth | |||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 青天白日滿地紅 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 青天白日满地红 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Blue sky, white sun, wholly red earth | ||||||||||||||||||
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Theflag of the Republic of China, commonly called theflag of Taiwan,[2][3][4] consists of a red field with a bluecanton bearing a white disk surrounded bytwelve triangles; said symbols symbolize the sun and rays of light emanating from it, respectively.
The flag was originally designed by the anti-Qing group, theRevive China Society, in 1895 with the addition of the red field component in 1906 bySun Yat-sen in his speech.[5] This was first used inmainland China as the Navy flag in 1912,[6] and was made the officialnational flag of theRepublic of China in 1928 by theNationalist government and was also used by the Japanese-backedChinese Republic from 1943. It was enshrined in the sixth article of theROC constitution when it was promulgated in 1947. The flag is no longer used in mainland China due to the ROC defeat in theChinese Civil War and thefounding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The ROC national flag has since then remained in use within the "Taiwan Area".
The public display of this flag is still seen in historicalmuseums andwar cemeteries across mainland China, but its use otherwise remains illegal due to its history as a symbol of opposition to communism.Taiwan independence supporters reject the flag due to its association withChinese nationalism and as a statement of opposition against theKuomintang, although supporters of theDemocratic Progressive Party and its leaders still retain and use the current flag both domestically and abroad.[7]
Thecanton (upper corner on the hoist side) originated from the "Blue Sky with a White Sun flag" (青天白日旗;qīngtiān báirì qí) designed byLu Haodong, a martyr of theFirst Guangzhou Uprising of 1895. He presented his design to represent the revolutionary army at the inauguration of theSociety for Regenerating China, an anti-Qing society inHong Kong, on 21 February 1895. This design was later adopted as the KMT party flag and thecoat of arms of the Republic of China. The "red Earth" portion was added bySun Yat-sen in winter of 1906, bringing the flag to its modern form. According toGeorge Yeo, the Foreign Minister of Singapore, in those days the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag was sewn in the Sun Yat Sen Villa orWan Qing Yuan in Singapore by Teo Eng Hock and his wife.[8][9]
During theXinhai Revolution in 1911 that heralded the Republic, the various revolutionary armies had different flags. Lu Hao-tung's "Blue Sky with a White Sun" flag was used in the provinces ofGuangdong,Guangxi,Yunnan, andGuizhou. InJiujiang, the "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth" flag was used on ships during a naval uprising. InWuhan, a flag with 18 yellow stars was used to represent the 18 administrative divisions at the time of theWuchang Uprising. InShanghai and northern China, a "Five-color Flag" (五色旗;wǔ sè qí) (Five Races Under One Union flag) was used of five horizontal stripes representing the five majorethnicities of China: theHan (red), theManchu (yellow), theMongol (blue), theHui (white), and theTibetan (black).
When thegovernment of the Republic of China was established, the "Five-color Flag" was immediately selected by the provisional Senate as the national flag. The"18-Star Flag" was adopted by the army[10] and the modern flag was adopted as a naval ensign.[11] Sun Yat-sen, however, did not consider the five-color flag appropriate, reasoning that horizontal order implied a hierarchy or class like that which existed during dynastic times.
After PresidentYuan Shikai assumed dictatorial powers in 1913 by dissolving theNational Assembly and outlawing the KMT, Sun Yat-sen established a government-in-exile inTokyo and employed the modern flag as the national ROC flag. He continued using this design when the KMT established a rival government inGuangzhou in 1917. The modern flag was made official byNational Emblem and National Flag of the Republic of China Act (中華民國國徽國旗法;Zhōnghuá Mínguó guóhuī guóqífǎ) on 17 December 1928, after the successfulNorthern Expedition that toppled theBeiyang government, though the Five-color Flag still continued to be used by locals in an unofficial capacity.[12] One reason for this discrepancy in use was lingering regional biases held by officials and citizens of northern China, who favored the Five-color Flag, against southerners such as theCantonese/Hakka Sun Yat-sen.[citation needed]
Duringthe Second Sino-Japanese War, the invadingJapanese established a variety of puppet governments using several flag designs. TheReformed Government was established in March 1938 inNanjing to consolidate the various puppet governments employed the Five-color Flag. WhenWang Jingwei was slated to take over the Japanese-installed government in Nanjing in 1940, he demanded to use the modern flag as a means to challenge the authority of theNationalist Government inChongqing underChiang Kai-shek and position himself as the rightful successor to Sun Yat-sen. However, the Japanese preferred the Five-color flag. As a compromise, the Japanese suggested adding a triangular yellow pennant on top with the slogan "Peace, Anticommunism, National Construction" (和平反共建國;Hépíng fǎngòng jiàn guó) in black, but this was rejected by Wang. In the end, Wang and the Japanese agreed that the yellow banner was to be used outdoors only, until 1943 when the banner was abandoned, leaving two rival governments with the same flag, each claiming to be the legitimate Nationalist government of China.[13]
The national flag was specified in Article Six of the1947 Constitution of the Republic of China. The flag was also used in Communist-held areas until 1949. After theChinese Civil War began to ease, the government of Chiang Kai-shek relocated the Republic of China to the island of Taiwan, whose administration was handed over to the ROC from Japan in 1945. On themainland, the communist forces ofMao Zedong established thePeople's Republic of China and adopted their own national flag.
On 23 October 1954, the latest amendment to theNational Emblem and National Flag of the Republic of China Act was promulgated by theLegislative Yuan to specify the size, measure, ratio, production, and management of the flag.[1]
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The "Blue Sky with a White Sun" flag ofLu Hao-tung was unveiled in February 1895 in Hong Kong. The twelve rays of the whiteSun symbolize the twelvemonths and the twelve traditionalshichen (時辰;shíchén), a traditional unit of time which corresponds to two modernhours. Sun Yat-sen added the "Red Earth" to the flag to signify theblood of the revolutionaries who sacrificed themselves in order to overthrow the Qing dynasty and create the ROC. Together, the three colors of the flag correspond to theThree Principles of the People:Blue representsnationalism and liberty;White representsdemocracy and equality; andRed represents the people's livelihood and fraternity.[5] President Chiang Kai-shek proclaimed on theNational Day in 1929, "As long as a national flag with Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth flies in the land of China, it will symbolize the independence and liberty of thedescendants of the Huang Emperor".
The blue-and-white canton of the ROC flag is often used as the party flag of the KMT. The flag has developed a great deal of additional symbolism due to the unique and controversialpolitical status of Taiwan. At one level, the flag represents a clear symbol that Taiwan is not governed by the same government as mainland China, as this flag is different from theflag of the People's Republic of China (PRC).
Meanwhile, because it was formerly used as the flag over all of China, the flag has become a symbol of continuity with the ideals of the Chinese nationalism andChinese unification movements, and has become a symbol of a connection both historical and current with mainland China. In addition, the flag is derived from the seal of the KMT, and the color of the field of the flag is associated with the KMT party colors.
Some Chinese see the flag as an expression of Chinese nationalism and pride combined with simultaneous disapproval for the current communist regime. Additionally, the flag may symbolize identification with, and admiration for the political thoughts of Sun Yat-sen, and hisThree Principles of the People.
One irony is that given the association of the flag with Chinese nationalism in opposition toTaiwan independence, the ROC flag has found an unexpected ally in thePeople's Republic of China. The PRC has criticized Taiwan independence groups for wishing to change or abolish the ROC flag, and has implied that legal steps to do so would bring a strongly negative reaction from the PRC.
However, the presence of the ROC flag in Taiwan also distinguishes the fact that Taiwan and ROC territorial islands elsewhere fall under jurisdiction of a country separate from that of mainland China, the People's Republic of China (PRC). The hoisting of the ROC flag is even advocated by the most extreme Taiwanese independence supporters, such asTaiwan Solidarity Union members when emphasizing the separate and independently governed systems and territories of the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China in mainland China.
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The specific designs of the flag are located in theNational Emblem and National Flag of the Republic of China Act from 1928. The ratio of the flag is 2:3, with most of it being red. The first quarter is blue, which contains the sun surrounded by 12 rays. The radius of the white sun is the1⁄8 of the width of the canton (totally1⁄16 of the width of the flag). Each sun ray is 30 degrees, so the total sun rays will make up a complete 360 degree circle. The distance between the center of the sun and top of sun ray is the same as the diameter of the sun. The sun and 12 rays are divided by a blue ring, its width is1⁄15 of the diameter of the white sun.[12][14]
In later years, more detailed instructions regarding of thecanton area (also used as the flag of the KMT), were codified into law. In the drawing released inAct on the Methods for Party and National Flags Production and Usage (黨旗國旗之製造及使用辦法), the sun was drawn in more specific detail and mathematical values were given to all elements in the flag. In the law, the canton still had a ratio of 2:3, but the math values given were 24 × 36 meters. The diameter of the sun with rays is6⁄8 of height of the canton, so in this case, it will be 18. The diameter of the white sun without the sun rays is1⁄4 of the width of the canton, so it is 9. The blue ring that is on top of this sun and part of the rays is1⁄15 diameter of the white sun, so the size will be 0.6. The angle of the rays, 30 degrees, and the total number of rays have not changed.[15]
The colors of the national flag are red, white and blue. However, the KMT party flag only uses white and dark blue; both flags are to be topped with a goldenfinial.[16] The law does not list any specific color processes, such asPantone, to manufacturing or drawing the flag. TheMinistry of the Interior providesCMYK values only for reference.[17]
| Color scheme | Blue | Red | White |
|---|---|---|---|
| CMYK | 100, 80, 0, 20 | 0, 100, 100, 5~10 | 0, 0, 0, 0 |
| RGB[a] | 0, 40, 204 | 243, 0, 1 | 255, 255, 255 |
| Hexadecimal[a] | #0028CC | #F30001 | #FFFFFF |
In the early years of the Republic, under theKMT's political tutelage, the flag shared the same prominence as the KMT party flag. A common wall display consisted of the KMT flag perched on the left and the ROC flag perched on the right, each tilted at an angle with a portrait ofFather of the Nation Sun Yat-sen displayed in the center. For the summits held between the KMT andCommunist Party during the Chinese Civil War, the ROC flag was displayed at an equal position to the flag of theChinese Soviet Republic (Jiangxi Soviet). Later, the flag law specified a horizontal display of the flag with the portrait of Sun Yat-sen in a portion of the red field at the center position. This display can be found in numerous government offices in Taiwan and is that which thepresident andvice president face to take the oath of office.
The flag has a ubiquitous presence in Taiwan. The hoisting and lowering of the flag are ceremoniously accompanied by theNational Flag Anthem of the Republic of China while those present stand at attention to give a standardsalute with the right hand, held flat, to the right eyebrow. Schoolchildren have traditionally been required to attend morning rallies where the flag is raised after a rendition of theNational Anthem of the Republic of China. Beforemartial law was lifted in 1987 in Taiwan, it was required that all vehicles be halted when passing by a flag ceremony.
Instead, the ROC is usually represented under apseudonym (usually "Chinese Taipei").
The symbolism of the ROC flag began to shift in the early 21st century[citation needed] as there was a warming of relations between thepan-Blue coalition in Taiwan and the Chinese Communist Party on mainland China. The flag of the Republic of China has begun to symbolize a common shared history between both mainland China and Taiwan, and as such the government of the PRC has made it clear that for Taiwan to change the flag would be a major provocation in favor ofTaiwan independence. The ambiguity surrounding the flag was made apparent during the trip of Kuomintang ChairmanLien Chan to mainland China in April 2005, during which the flag was very prominently displayed at ceremonies honoringSun Yat-Sen at which both KMT party officials and government officials from the PRC were in attendance. One place in mainland China where the White Sun emblem is still prominently displayed in public is the ceiling mosaic withinSun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing.
The use of the flag in Taiwan reflects the controversy behind its symbolism. Although supporters of Taiwan independence, such as former presidentChen Shui-bian, will display and salute the flag on formal official state occasions, it is never seen at political rallies of theDemocratic Progressive Party. This is not only because of its association with mainland China but also because the flag contains design elements of the KMT party flag. By contrast, the ROC flag is always extremely prominent at political rallies of the pan-Blue coalition. This difference extends to the colors seen at the rallies. Rallies of the pan-Blue coalition give prominence to the colors of the ROC flag, with very large amounts of blue and smaller amounts of red. Rallies of independence-leaning parties are filled with green, with no blue or red at all.
Supporters of Taiwan independence, including former presidentLee Teng-hui, have called for the abandonment of the flag, and there are a number of alternativedesigns for a specifically Taiwanese flag. However, the prospects for this are not high given that changing the flag requires a constitutional amendment; that the current flag has a huge amount of support among pan-Blue supporters and grudging acceptance among moderate independence supporters; and because changing the flag might cause political tension with the PRC. During the 2004 ROC legislative elections, it was briefly suggested that if the pan-green coalition won the elections that it would force the KMT to change the party emblem to be different from the flag. This proposal generated a few days of controversy and was then quickly forgotten.
There has been disagreement in theoverseas Chinese community on which flag to fly to represent themselves, supporters and organizations of theChinese democracy movement often fly the ROC flag rather than the PRC flag to symbolize opposition to Communist rule.[18]
Some Hong Kongers have historically flown the ROC flag to demonstrate their shared opposition to the PRC's policies, as well as to honor the legacy of Sun Yat-sen, as part of thepro-ROC andpro-democracy camps.[19][20] In recent years, however, due tothe PRC's tightening of state control over Hong Kong, supporters of the ROC have faced severe restrictions in expressing their political support, especially in publicly flying the ROC flag or celebrating theNational Day of the Republic of China on October 10th every year.[21][22]
Under Articles 118 and 160 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of China, it is a criminal offense to insult either the national flag or the national emblem of any country. If it is a national flag or emblem of a foreign country being insulted, the name of the offense would be "obstructing state diplomacy"; if it is the ones of the Republic of China, the offense would be "disturbing order". Besides, insulting or damaging the portrait of Sun Yat-sen is also punishable as "disturbing order". The penalty can be either incarceration for one year or less, or a fine of $9,000 NTD or less.[23][24][25]
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| States with limited recognition | |
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