During the

Second Sino-Japanese war The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

, the invading

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

established a variety of

puppet government A puppet state, puppet régime, puppet government or dummy government, is a state that is ''de jure'' independent but ''de facto'' completely dependent upon an outside power and subject to its orders.Compare: Puppet states have nominal sovere ...

s such as the Provisional Government of China and the Reformed Government of China which used the

flag 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 empl ...

Five Races Under One Union Description This principle emphasized harmony between what were considered the five major ethnic groups in China, as represented by the colored stripes of the Flag of the Republic of China, Five-Colored Flag of the Republic: the Han Chinese, Han ( ...

even though the legitimate

Chinese Government The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, mili ...

had switched to the current day modern

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 ...

. When the

Wang Jingwei regime The Wang Jingwei regime or the Wang Ching-wei regime is the common name of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China ( zh , t = 中華民國國民政府 , p = Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ ), the government of the pup ...

was established on 30 March 1940 in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

was slated to take over the previous Japanese-installed governments and centralize the

Chinese Nationalists 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 Taiw ...

under what they claimed to be the legitimate successor to 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 ...

he demanded to use the modern flag as a means to challenge the authority of the

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

government under

Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Kai-shek (31 October 1887 – 5 April 1975), also known as Chiang Chung-cheng and Jiang Jieshi, was a Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader who served as the leader of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 ...

and position himself as the rightful successor to

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

However, the Japanese preferred the Five-Colored

flag. As a compromise, the Japanese suggested adding a triangular yellow pennant on top with the slogan "Peace, Anti-Communism, National Construction" (和平反共建國, Hépíng fǎn'gòng 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 government of China.crwflags article on the Nanjing Nationalist Government -
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Variants of the state flag

File:Flag of the Republic of China-Nanjing (Peace, Anti-Communism).svg, IFIS Historical

The Chinese characters read: Peace and Anticommunism (和平反共). File:Flag of the Republic of China-Nanjing (Peace, National Construction).svg, IFIS Historical

The Chinese characters read: Peace and National construction (和平建國). There were multiple variants of the pendent used by the Wang Jingwei Government, these variants were based on regional choice.

Naval jack and naval ensign

File:Flag of the Republic of China-Nanjing (Naval Jack).svg, IFIS Historical

Naval jack A jack is a flag flown from a short jackstaff at the bow (front) of a vessel, while the ensign is flown on the stern (rear). Jacks on bowsprits or foremasts appeared in the 17th century. A country may have different jacks for different purpo ...

from 1940 until 1945. File:Flag of the Republic of China-Nanjing (War Ensign).svg, IFIS Historical

Naval ensign A naval ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by naval ships of various countries to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from a country's civil ensign or state ensign. It can also be known as a war ensign. A large ver ...

from 1 May 1942 until 1945. The war ensign was adopted in commemoration of the second anniversary that the capital was relocated on the 1 May 1942.

References

{{Reflist C C * nl:Vlag van China#Chinese vlaggen tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog

Variants of the state flag

Naval jack and naval ensign

See also

References