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Blue Sky with a White Sun

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"National Emblem of the Republic of China" redirects here. For the emblem of China since 1949, seeNational Emblem of the People's Republic of China.
National Emblem of the Republic of China
ArmigerGovernment of the Republic of China
Adopted17 December 1928;95 years ago(1928-12-17)(Nationalist government)
25 October 1945;78 years ago(1945-10-25)(Taiwan)
Relinquished1 October 1949;75 years ago(1949-10-01)(Mainland China)
Use1928–1949 (Mainland China)
1945–present (Taiwan)
Party Emblem of the Kuomintang
ArmigerKuomintang
Kuomintang
"Blue Sky with a White Sun" flag (Thanh thiên bạch nhật kỳ)
UseKuomintang party flag and the ROC naval jack
Proportion2:3
Adopted1895;129 years ago(1895)
DesignA white sun withtwelve rayson blue background.
Designed byLu Haodong

TheBlue Sky with a White Sun(Chinese:Thanh thiên bạch nhật;pinyin:Qīngtīan Báirì) is the national emblem of theRepublic of Chinathat covers the period of history inMainland ChinaandTaiwan.

In the "Blue Sky with a White Sun" symbol, thetwelve raysof the whiteSunrepresenting the twelvemonthsand the twelve traditionalChinese hours(Thời thần;shíchen), each of which corresponds to two modern hours and symbolizes the spirit of progress.[citation needed]

Official description

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The national emblem of the Republic of China is officially described in theNational Emblem and National Flag of the Republic of China Act:[1]

The national emblem of the Republic of China is a blue sky with a white sun in the following form:

  1. A blue circle.
  2. A white sun in the middle, with 12 white rays with pointed angles.
  3. There is a blue ring between the white sun and the white rays with pointed angles.

The position, angle and ratio of each subparagraph of the previous article are as follows:

  1. The center of the blue background circle is the center of the white sun.
  2. The ratio of the radius of the white sun to the radius of the surrounding blue circle is 1:3.
  3. The length from the center of the white sun to the top of a white ray with a pointed angle is twice the length of the radius of the white sun.
  4. The width of the blue ring between the white sun and the 12 white rays with pointed angles is equivalent to 1/15 of the diameter of the white sun.
  5. The top angle of each white ray with a pointed angle is 30 degrees, with the 12 rays totaling 360 degrees.
  6. The upper, lower, left and right sides of the white rays with pointed angles shall be facing north, south, east and west. The rest shall be evenly spread out.

History of the Blue Sky White Sun design

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National Emblem of the Republic of China
Traditional ChineseTrung hoa dân quốc quốc huy
Simplified ChineseTrung hoa dân quốc quốc huy
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhōnghuá Mínguó guóhuī
Wade–GilesChung-hua Min-kuo Kuohui

The "Blue Sky with a White Sun" flag was originally designed byLu Hao-tung,a martyr of theRepublican revolution.He presented his design to represent the revolutionary army at the inauguration of theSociety for Regenerating China,an anti-Qingsociety inHong Kong,on February 21, 1895.[2]

During theWuchang Uprisingin 1911 that heralded the Republic of China, the various revolutionary armies had different flags. Lu Hao-tung's "Blue Sky with a White Sun" flag was used in the southern provinces ofGuangdong,Guangxi,Yunnan,andGuizhou,while the "18-Star Flag","Five-Colored Flag",and other designs were used elsewhere.

When the government of the Republic of China was established on January 1, 1912, the "Five-Colored" flag was adopted as the national flag, but Sun Yat-sen did not consider its design appropriate, reasoning that horizontal order implied a hierarchy or class like that which existed during dynastic times. Thus, when he established a rival government inGuangzhouin 1917, he brought over the "Blue Sky with a White Sun" flag for the party and the "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth" (Thanh thiên bạch nhật mãn địa hồng) flag, which was then the naval ensign, for the nation. This officially became thenational flagin 1928 while the "Blue Sky with a White Sun" flag was adopted as the naval jack.

The "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth" flag has remained theflag of the Republic of Chinato this day.

National emblem and history

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Beiyang period

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Main article:Twelve Symbols national emblem
Twelve Symbols national emblem,national emblem of theRepublic of China(1913–1928) and theEmpire of China(1915–1916).

The national emblem of the Republic of China was derived from the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag. The emblem was designed byHe YingqinatWhampoa Military Academyin 1924 and was set as the national emblem by theLaw of national flag and national emblem of the Republic of Chinain 1928.

On the national emblem rays of sun have some distance to the edge, symbolizing the broadness of the sky, while on Kuomintang emblem the rays reach the edge, symbolizing the spirit of revolution is as powerful as the sun.

The national emblem of the Republic of China from 1913 to 1928 is calledTwelve Symbols national emblem,based on the traditional symbols on clothes of ancient Chinese emperors. It was designed byLu Xun,Qian DaosunandXu Shoushangon August 28, 1912, and was set as national emblem in February 1913. It remained as the national emblem during the Empire of China from 1915 to 1916. After theNorthern Expeditionit was replaced by the Blue Sky with a White Sun national emblem in 1928.

Nationalist period

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See also:Party-State

Since 1928, under the KMT's political tutelage, the Blue Sky with a White Sun Flag shared the same prominence as the ROC 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 ofNational FatherSun Yat-sen displayed in the center. After the promulgation of theConstitution of the Republic of China,the party flag was removed from such a display and the national flag was moved to the center. To promote a sense of national identity, the design of the national emblem was freely available to use and was featured prominently in corporate logos, art during the era.

Taiwanese period

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Since the ROC government moved to Taiwan and especially in the years since the end ofmartial lawthe KMT flag has lost some of its prominence. However, it is still frequently seen on KMT party buildings, in political rallies and other meetings of KMT and thepan-blue coalition.

The flag and the symbol made news during theROC legislative elections of 2004,when President Chen Shui-bian suggested that the Kuomintang's flag and party emblem violated the ROC's National Emblem Law for being too similar to the national emblem of the Republic of China. Chen stated that the law forbids the ROC's emblem and flag from being used by non-governmental organizations and warned that the KMT would have three months to change its flag and emblem if his Democratic Progressive Party won a majority of seats in the legislature. The KMT responded by asking the government to change the national emblem, saying the KMT emblem existed first. However, thepan-green coalitionfailed to win a majority, and Chen took no action for the remainder of his presidency.

On 29 January 2021, the Legislative Yuan passed a resolution proposed by theNew Power Partyon 29 January instructing the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to look into ways of addressing the issue of the similarity between the national emblem, in use since 1928 for all of China, and the KMT party flag.[7]The MOI responded that through their analysis of the current situation, the change "should not be taken lightly," though suggesting that symbols of political parties could be changed.[8]

Use in other countries

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The design of "Blue Sky with a White Sun" was used in the unit insignia or coats of arms of some units of theUnited States Armythat fought inWorld War II.The most famous unit wasMerrill's Marauders(officially named the "5307th Composite Unit (Provisional)" ), which has the "Blue Sky with a White Sun" as part of its badge. The usage by US troops was a result of cooperation between US andChinese Expeditionary Forcein theChina Burma India Theater.Postwar US military units stationed inTaiwan,including theUnited States Taiwan Defense Command(USTDC) and theMilitary Assistance Advisory Group(MAAG), also used the design in their badges.

Up to now, the "Blue Sky with a White Sun" can still be seen in the emblem of theUS Army75th Ranger Regiment.

Other emblems

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Historical Taiwanese emblems

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Taiwan's earliest emblems were used during the European periods.

In 1895, Taiwan was annexed byJapan.[9]The emblem was worn as an official clothing of the Governor's Office in Taiwan which featured a Daijishō with a Sycamore leaf and chrysanthemum branch in a brown circle.[10]

After theend of Japanese period,Taiwan wastransferredto theRepublic of Chinawhich adopted the Blue Sky with a White Sun emblem. This symbol remains in use to this day in Taiwan and by the Kuomintang.

Chinese Taipei

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Main article:Chinese Taipei

After thePeople's Republic of China became an IOC member,the ROC began to use the nameChinese Taipeifor its competitions. The crest of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee includes symbols of the Olympic Committee and the Chinese Taipei team. At the periphery is a stylizedplum blossomthat symbolizes theNational Flower of the Republic of China.The center of the emblem contains theOlympic ringsand the Blue Sky with a White Sun (the proportion of the blue field is between that of theNational Emblem of the Republic of Chinaand the Party Emblem of theKuomintang).[11]The Olympic flag of Chinese Taipei depicts the emblem on a white field.

Subdivisions

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Provinces (streamlined)

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Counties

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See also

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References

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Citations

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  1. ^National Emblem and National Flag of the Republic of China Act, English
  2. ^"National flag".english.president.gov.tw.Retrieved2020-11-17.
  3. ^Flight International.April 28, 1938. p.416Archived2014-10-06 at theWayback Machine(Archive). "EURASIA AVIATION CORP., 97, Jinkee Road, Shanghai."
  4. ^"Eurasia Aviation Corporation - A German-Chinese Airline in China and its Airmail 1931-1943 by Peter Moeller and Larry D. Sall, paperback in color, 2007, 153 pages, great book on the history of this airline, includes a listing of First Flight covers and catalog valuesArchived2014-10-06 at theWayback Machine."China Stamp Society. Retrieved on October 4, 2014.
  5. ^Ballantine, Collin and Pamela Tang. "Chinese airlines: airline colours of China."Airlife,1995. p.6."Chinese Ministry of Communications which declared Eurasia to be a Chinese State-owned airline. The airline then fell into more trouble as a direct result of the continuing Japanese occupation. The fleet of airliners was based in Hong Kong[...]"
  6. ^Ballantine, Collin and Pamela Tang. "Chinese airlines: airline colours of China."Airlife,1995. p.5."The outcome of this venture was Eurasia Airlines, operating six- seater Junkers W33 airliners across Asia into China."
  7. ^"Taiwan weighing necessity of changing national emblem".Taiwan News.30 March 2021.
  8. ^Wu, Su-wei (10 April 2021)."Report suggests changing KMT emblem".Taipei Times.
  9. ^"アルテモンド đậu tri thức / ななこ chức".www.artemondo.co.jp.
  10. ^"Thủy chính tứ thập chu niên ký niệm đài loan bác lãm hội tả chân thiếp - quốc lập quốc hội đồ thư quán デジタルコレクション".dl.ndl.go.jp.
  11. ^"Mê để yết khai: Nguyên lai trung hoa áo hội nhất trực dụng đảng huy xuất tái".20 September 2016.Archivedfrom the original on 2016-12-20.Retrieved2016-12-18.

Sources

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Wikimedia Commons has media related toFlags with blue sky and white sunandCoats of arms of Taiwan.
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