The Chinese Taipei Olympic flag is used by the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

(ROC)

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

team, which competes under the title "

Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...

" during the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and other events, in place of the

flag of the Republic of China A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employ ...

. This is a result of the complex

Cross-Strait relations Cross-Strait relations (sometimes called Mainland–Taiwan relations, or Taiwan-China relations) are the relations between China (officially the People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (officially the Republic of China). The relationship ...

between the

and the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The Olympic flag has been in use since 1981, following the decision by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

that the ROC could not compete under the country's name or flag. Due to this restriction, the

National Anthem of the Republic of China The "Three Principles of the People" is the national anthem of the Republic of China as well as the party anthem of the Kuomintang. It was adopted in 1930 as China's national anthem and was used as such in mainland China until 1949, when the R ...

also could not be played when the team wins medals, so, instead, the

National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China The National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China (), also unofficially known as the "National Banner Song", is a patriotic song typically played during the raising and lowering of the flag of the Republic of China. Domestically, the flag a ...

was played during the flag raising of the medal ceremony. The flag shows the

Blue Sky with a White Sun The Blue Sky with a White Sun () serves as the design for the party flag and emblem of the Kuomintang, the canton of the flag of the Republic of China, the national emblem of the Republic of China, and as the naval jack of the ROC Navy. In t ...

(the emblem of the

and the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

) and the

Olympic rings The International Olympic Committee (IOC) uses icons, flags and symbols to elevate the Olympic Games. These symbols include those commonly used during Olympic competition—such as the flame, fanfare and theme—as well as those used throughout ...

, encircled by a five-petaled Prunus mei (the ROC's

national flower In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to ...

) drawn in red, white, and blue (the colors of the ROC flag). In addition to its use in the Olympics, some companies operating in mainland China use the Chinese Taipei flag in place of the ROC flag to represent Taiwan since the PRC does not recognize the ROC.

Court case over IOC decision

The

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

adopted the

Nagoya Resolution The Republic of China (ROC) took part in the opening ceremony of the 1924 Summer Olympics, but its four athletes, all of whom were tennis players, withdrew from competition. The ROC participated in its first Olympic Games in 1932 under the name o ...

in November 1979 which called for the " Republic of China Olympic Committee" to change its name to the "

Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (; IOC code: TPE) is the National Olympic Committee representing the Republic of China (Taiwan). History The China National Amateur Athletic Federation () was established on 3 April 1922. Later that year, the ...

" and adopt a new flag and anthem if it wanted to participate in the Olympic Games. The ROC strongly disagreed with the decision and sued the IOC in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The ROC claimed that the conditions concerning its name, flag, and anthem violated articles 6, 64, and 66 of the

Olympic Charter The Olympic Charter is a set of rules and guidelines for the organisation of the Olympic Games, and for governing the Olympic movement. Its last revision was on the 17th of July 2020 during the 136th IOC Session, held by video conference. Adop ...

. However, despite appealing an initial court judgment, the ROC was not successful. On 15 January 1980, a Swiss court rejected the ROC effort to remain in the

Olympic movement The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

under the name of "Republic of China." After a series of forceful objections, Taiwan officially accepted the compromise in 1981, and the island competed in the

1984 Winter Olympics The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games (Serbo-Croatian and Slovene: ''XIV. Zimske olimpijske igre''; Cyrillic: XIV Зимске олимпијске игре; mk, XIV Зимски олимписки игр ...

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its a ...

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

Other flags

For other Olympic-affiliated and international sporting events, Taiwan uses variations on the Olympic flag: * The

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

flag replaces the Olympic rings with the logo of the International Paralympic Committee *Starting at the

2019 Winter Deaflympics The 2019 Winter Deaflympics ( it, 2019 Olimpiadi invernali per non udenti), officially known as the 19th Winter Deaflympics or XIX Winter Deaflympics ( it, 19° Olimpiadi invernali per sordi), was the 19th edition of the Winter Deaflympics, and ...

a new flag replaced the Olympic rings with the Deaflympics logo. A prior version instead featured a green

Chinese dragon The Chinese dragon, also known as ''loong'', ''long'' or ''lung'', is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many Outline of life forms, animal-like forms such as Bixi (my ...

and the name "Chinese Taipei" on lower part from the symbol. * Prior to 2006, the flag of the

Chinese Taipei national football team The Chinese Taipei national football team represents Taiwan (the Republic of China) in international football and is controlled by the Chinese Taipei Football Association. Despite never qualifying for the FIFA World Cup, Chinese Taipei, then kn ...

replaced the Olympic rings with the

taijitu In Chinese philosophy, a ''taijitu'' () is a symbol or diagram () representing Taiji () in both its monist ('' wuji'') and its dualist (yin and yang) aspects. Such a diagram was first introduced by Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhou Dunyi (; 1017� ...

(the

yin and yang Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the c ...

symbol), with the black and white dots replaced with

footballs A football is a ball inflated with air that is used to play one of the various sports known as football. In these games, with some exceptions, goals or points are scored only when the ball enters one of two designated goal-scoring areas; football ...

and has a

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the R ...

background. * The

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

flag replaces the Olympic rings with the letter U (from the logo of the

FISU The Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU, en, International University Sports Federation) is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 2 ...

) and has an electric blue background. * The World School Sport Games flag replace the Olympic Rings with a pictogram 中 and a letter V in latin script for the victory word. * The flag of both the

Chinese Taipei men's national volleyball team The Chinese Taipei national volleyball team, governed by Chinese Taipei Volleyball Association, is the national volleyball team representing Republic of China (Taiwan) in international competitions and friendly matches. (See ''Chinese Taipei'' fo ...

and

Chinese Taipei women's national volleyball team The Chinese Taipei women's national volleyball team is the women's national volleyball team of Republic of China (Taiwan). (See ''Chinese Taipei'' for team naming issue) Controlled by Chinese Taipei Volleyball Association, it represents the ...

replaces the Olympic rings with a volleyball-playing figure and the abbreviation of the

Chinese Taipei Volleyball Association The Chinese Taipei Volleyball Association (CTVBA; ) is the governing body of volleyball in Republic of China (Taiwan). See also * Chinese Taipei men's national volleyball team * Chinese Taipei women's national volleyball team * Enterprise Voll ...

Gallery

Current flags

File:Chinese Taipei Paralympic Flag.svg, Flag of Chinese Taipei used in the Paralympic Games File:Flag of Chinese Taipei for Deaf.svg, Flag of Chinese Taipei used in the Deaflympics File:Flag of Chinese Taipei for Universiade.svg, Flag of Chinese Taipei used in the Universiade File:Flag of Chinese Taipei (Olympics; 1986–2010).svg, Chinese Taipei football flag File:Chinese Taipei Volleyball Flag.svg, Chinese Taipei volleyball flag File:Flag of Chinese Taipei (WorldSkills).svg, Flag of Chinese Taipei used in the

WorldSkills WorldSkills organizes the world championships of vocational skills and is held every two years in different parts of the world. The organization, which also hosts conferences about vocational skills, describes itself as the global hub for skills. ...

Former flags

Flag of Chinese Taipei (Olympics; 1981–1986).svg, Flag of Chinese Taipei used in the Olympic Games (1981–1986) Flag of Chinese Taipei (Olympics; 1986–2010).svg, Flag of Chinese Taipei used in the Olympic Games (1986–2010) Flag of Chinese Taipei (Olympics; 1986–2010).svg, Flag of Chinese Taipei used in the Paralympic Games (1992) File:Chinese Taipei Paralympic Flag (pre-2004).svg, Flag of Chinese Taipei used in the Paralympic Games (1994–2004) File:Chinese Taipei Paralympic Flag (2004-2019).svg, Flag of Chinese Taipei used in the Paralympic Games (2004–2019) File:Flag of Chinese Taipei for Deaf (1997-2019).svg, Flag of Chinese Taipei used in the Deaflympics (1991–2018) File:Former Chinese Taipei Football Flag.svg, Chinese Taipei football flag (pre-2006)

Other flags

File:Flag of Chinese Taipei (Overwatch World Cup).svg, Flag for

Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: ''Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games fea ...

team of Chinese Taipei in

Overwatch World Cup The Overwatch World Cup (OWWC) is an annual international ''Overwatch'' esports tournament organized by Blizzard Entertainment, the game's developer, with the first edition taking place in 2016. The tournament ran every year until 2019; after a t ...

References

{{Cross-Strait relations Flags of Taiwan Flags introduced in 1981