Flag of China

This is a list of current and historical flags used in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau) and the Republic of China (Taiwan).

[edit] 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.
	1928 –	Flag of the Republic of China	A red field, with a blue canton containing a 12-ray white sun. This flag is flown in Taiwan, and other islands under the control of the ROC.
		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.

[edit] 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

[edit] Political divisions of the Republic of China (Taiwan)

See also: Administrative divisions of the Republic of China and Taiwan

[edit] Northern Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Taipei City
		Keelung City
		Hsinchu City
		Taipei County
		Taoyuan County
		Hsinchu County
		Miaoli County

[edit] Middle Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Taichung City
		Taichung County
		Changhua County
		Yunlin County
		Nantou County

[edit] Southern Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Kaohsiung City
		Chiayi City
		Tainan City
		Chiayi County
		Tainan County
		Kaohsiung County
		Pingtung County

[edit] Eastern Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Ilan County
		Hualien County
		Taitung County

[edit] Islands Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Penghu County
		Kinmen County
		Lienchiang County

[edit] Military flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Used on Naval Ships for identification	same as national flag
		The flag of the Beiyang fleet	A badge commemerating 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
		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.
		Naval Jack of the Republic of China	Identical to the Kuomintang flag (see below).

[edit] 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.
	1986 –	Democratic Progressive Party flag.	The green shape of Taiwan with a white cross. Green is the color of Taiwan pro-independence sympathizers and can be seen ubiquitously in pro-independence rallies.
	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.

[edit] Historical national flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1862 – 1890	Flag of the Qing Empire	No standard specifications
	1890 – 1912	Flag of the Qing Empire	Replaced old triangular flag
	1895	Flag of the Republic of Formosa
	1912 – 1928	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	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. 1913-1928.
	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 – 1949	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 (Taiwan).
	1931 – 1934	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.

[edit] 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).
	1876 – 1959	Flag of the British colony of Hong Kong	A British Blue Ensign with the coat of arms of Hong Kong (1876 – 1959).
[1]	1870 – 1876	Flag of the British colony of Hong Kong	A British Blue Ensign with a crowned "HK".
	1670 – 1999	Flag of Portugal, used in colonial era Macau	The Portuguese flag was used in colonial era Macau as there was no territorial flag. (Portuguese flag design changed during colonial administration; the version shown was that used in 1999.)
	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 Macau.
		Flag de facto used to represent the Portuguese territory of Macao.	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. This was the flag used at the handover to China in 1999.
	1895 – 1945	Flag of the Empire of Japan	used in Taiwan during Japanese rule.
	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.
	1920s – 1940s	Flag of Ma clique	Used by Hui islamic warlords only in Xinjiang
	NOW	Flag of Xinjiang, prohibited in China	The "Kokbayraq" flag. This flag is used by Uyghurs as a symbol of the East Turkestan independence movement. It is almost identical to the flag of Turkey except with a blue background. The Government of the People's Republic of China prohibits using the flag in the country.
	1912 – 1950	Flag of Tibet	Symbols of Tibet devised by the 13th Dalai Lama. Currently used by the Central Tibetan Administration, their government in exile. This flag is outlawed in mainland China.

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