The flag of the Republic of China is the national flag used by the Republic of China (ROC), whose government is based in Taiwan. It has a red field and a blue upper-hoist canton containing a white sun with twelve rays. Commonly called the flag of Taiwan, it originated in the Chinese revolutionary movement and became the national flag under the Nationalist government in 1928. It remained in use by the ROC after the government relocated to Taiwan in 1949. (en.wikipedia.org)
Design and specifications
The flag’s proportions and construction are prescribed by the National Emblem and National Flag of the Republic of China Act. Its horizontal length to vertical height is . The blue canton occupies the upper-left quarter of the flag, with half the flag’s length and half its height. The white sun is centered in the canton. A narrow blue ring separates its central white disc from twelve evenly arranged triangular rays. (law.moj.gov.tw)
The radius of the central disc is one-eighth of the canton’s horizontal length. The distance from the sun’s center to each ray tip is twice that radius, while the intervening blue ring has a width equal to one-fifteenth of the disc’s diameter. Four ray tips point directly upward, downward, left, and right. These specifications distinguish a correctly constructed emblem from approximations of a twelve-pointed star. (law.moj.gov.tw)
Although the law identifies the colors as blue, white, and red, the Ministry of the Interior states that there is no mandatory national color-matching standard. It provides suggested printing colors as references rather than legally binding specifications. (moi.gov.tw)
Historical development
Revolutionary origins
The blue-sky-and-white-sun design originated with Lu Hao-tung, an associate of Sun Yat-sen, during the revolutionary movement against the Qing dynasty. Sun subsequently developed the red-field version that became the present flag. The design therefore predates its adoption as the ROC’s national flag. (english.president.gov.tw)
The Xinhai Revolution of 1911 did not initially produce a single agreed national flag. Revolutionary forces used several designs, including the blue flag with a white sun, an eighteen-star flag associated with the Wuchang Uprising, and a five-color flag. The republic established in 1912 adopted the five-color design, whose horizontal red, yellow, blue, white, and black stripes represented the principle conventionally called “Five Races Under One Union.” (english.president.gov.tw)
Adoption as the national flag
Sun’s government in Guangzhou adopted the red-field, blue-canton flag in 1921. After the Nationalist government’s Northern Expedition, the design received nationwide legal adoption in 1928. Archival accounts distinguish the enactment of the flag legislation on November 2 from its promulgation on December 17. These stages explain why accounts of the flag’s adoption may refer to either 1921 or 1928: the former concerns Sun’s southern government, while the latter concerns adoption by the Nationalist government as the national standard. (culture.teldap.tw)
Article 6 of the ROC Constitution specifies a red background with a blue sky and white sun in the upper-left corner. Detailed rules governing the emblem, dimensions, manufacture, and display are contained in the flag act, whose current text records an amendment dated October 23, 1954. (law.moj.gov.tw)
Continued use in Taiwan
The flag came into official use in Taiwan in 1945, when the ROC government assumed administration of the island following World War II. In 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, the ROC government relocated to Taiwan, while the People’s Republic of China was established on the mainland with a different national flag. The ROC retained its existing design; it was not newly created in 1949. (en.wikipedia.org)
Symbolism and related emblems
Traditional official explanations associate blue with freedom and national identity, white with equality and popular rights, and red with fraternity, people’s livelihood, and revolutionary sacrifice. These interpretations connect the flag with Sun Yat-sen’s Three Principles of the People. The twelve rays are conventionally interpreted as the twelve months and the twelve traditional two-hour divisions of the day, representing continuous progress. Such meanings are historical interpretations, distinct from the flag’s legally prescribed geometry. (english.president.gov.tw)
The white-sun motif also appears in the ROC national emblem and the flag of the Kuomintang. These are related but not interchangeable symbols: the national flag includes the red field, whereas the party flag consists of a blue field and white sun. Historical archival collections preserve separate construction drawings and manufacturing rules for the national and party flags. (culture.teldap.tw)
Official display and ceremonies
The flag act regulates display by government agencies, schools, organizations, and military units. It provides for daily raising and lowering and ordinarily limits outdoor display to the period between sunrise and sunset. Its ceremony provisions include standing at attention, singing the national anthem, and saluting during the raising or lowering of the flag. (law.moj.gov.tw)
Separate regulations govern mourning displays. When flown at half-mast, the flag is first raised to the top of the pole and then lowered; before removal, it is again raised to the top. Flags displayed alongside it must not fly higher during the mourning display. (law.moj.gov.tw)
The National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China is a separate composition from the national anthem. Its lyrics are credited to Tai Chuan-hsien and its music to Huang Tzu. (english.president.gov.tw)
International sporting use
At the Olympic Games, the delegation from Taiwan competes as Chinese Taipei and uses an approved Olympic committee flag rather than the ROC national flag. This arrangement rests on the agreement signed by the International Olympic Committee and the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee in Lausanne on March 23, 1981. It established the committee’s name and approved emblem and flag; anthem and protocol-order arrangements were confirmed in 1983. The sporting flag is therefore a separate organizational symbol, not a replacement for the national flag in domestic law. (tpenoc.net)
References
- National flag—Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan)english.president.gov.tw
- Flag of the Republic of Chinaen.wikipedia.org
- Taiwans flagg og statsemblemsnl.no
- National Emblem and National Flag of the Republic of China Actlaw.moj.gov.tw
- National Flag Questions and Answers—Ministry of the Interiormoi.gov.tw
- The Story of ROC National Flag – From the relevant documents of the National Government Archivesculture.teldap.tw
- Constitution of the Republic of China (Taiwan)law.moj.gov.tw
- List of Taiwanese flagsen.wikipedia.org
- The Story of the National Flag of the Republic of Chinaculture.teldap.tw
- Regulations Governing the National Flag at Half-Mastlaw.moj.gov.tw