The flag of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

was an emblem adopted in the late 19th century featuring the Azure Dragon on a plain yellow field with the red flaming

pearl A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...

in the upper left corner. It became the first national flag of China and is usually referred to as the "

Yellow Dragon The Yellow Dragon ( is the zoomorphic incarnation of the Yellow Emperor of the center of the universe in Chinese religion and mythology. The Yellow Emperor or Yellow Deity was conceived by Fubao, who became pregnant after seeing a yellow ra ...

Flag" (). Ruling China from 1644 until the overthrow of the monarchy during the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a ...

, the Qing dynasty was the last imperial dynasty in China's history. Between 1862 and 1912, the dynasty represented itself with the dragon flag.

Designs

Throughout the history of China's imperial dynasties, yellow was considered the royal color of successive Chinese emperors. The legendary first emperor of China was known as the

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...

(). Members of the imperial family of China at that time were the only ones allowed to display the color yellow in buildings and on garments. The Emperor of China usually used a Chinese dragon as a symbol of the imperial power and strength. Generally, a five-clawed dragon was used by emperors only. In

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

, a flaming pearl is shown on top of the dragon's head. The pearl is associated with wealth, good luck, and prosperity. The design of the flag was largely based on the Plain Yellow Banner, the one of three "upper" banner armies among the

Eight Banners The Eight Banners (in Manchu: ''jakūn gūsa'', ) were administrative and military divisions under the Later Jin and Qing dynasties of China into which all Manchu households were placed. In war, the Eight Banners functioned as armies, but the ...

under the direct command of the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

himself, and one of the four "right wing" banners. ;The

The

were administrative/military divisions under the Qing dynasty into which all Manchu households were placed. In war, the

functioned as armies, but the banner system was also the basic organizational framework of all of Manchu society.

Triangular version (1862–1889)

Manchu Qing Mongolia Banner & Torture Devices (35318192250)

The Arrow Incident of 1856 occurred as a result of Chinese civilian vessels flying foreign flags as the Qing dynasty had no official flag at the time. In 1862, sailors from the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

and British navies clashed at

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

on the Yangtze River. In response to protests from the British government that their ships were unable to properly distinguish between Chinese navy ships and civilian vessels, Yixin (Prince Gong) urged

Zeng Guofan Zeng Guofan, Marquis Yiyong (; 26 November 1811 – 12 March 1872), birth name Zeng Zicheng, courtesy name Bohan, was a Chinese statesman and military general of the late Qing dynasty. He is best known for raising and organizing the Xiang ...

to create a governmental flag for the Qing, and suggested use of a yellow dragon flag, which was also used as one of the

of the Manchu as well as in the

Chinese army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

. After due consideration, Zeng Guofan concluded that a square flag bore too close a resemblance to the Plain Yellow Banner of the

with the potential to be viewed as an endorsement of the

hierarchy, he instead removed one corner to create a triangular flag. The triangular version of the yellow dragon flag was restricted to naval and governmental use only, no civilian ships were permitted to fly the yellow pennant, and it never formally became the national flag. However, on some diplomatic occasions and at international exhibitions, this flag was used to represent China.

Rectangular version (1889–1912)

In September 1881, when the two cruisers '' Chaoyong'' and '' Yangwei'' ordered from

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

were sent to China,

Li Hongzhang Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi ( zh, t=李鴻章; also Li Hung-chang; 15 February 1823 – 7 November 1901) was a Chinese politician, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important ...

realized a triangular ensign was unique among naval flags of other countries. As a result, he petitioned the imperial court for permission and subsequently altered the triangular naval flag into a rectangular one. Seeing Western countries flying national flags on official occasions, Li Hongzhang also asked

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; mnc, Tsysi taiheo; formerly romanised as Empress Dowager T'zu-hsi; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908), of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, was a Chinese noblewoman, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled ...

to select a national flag for the Qing dynasty. Among the proposals for use of the Ba gua flag, the Yellow dragon flag and the

Qilin The qilin (; ) is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler. Qilin are a specific type of the mythological family of ...

flag, Cixi selected the Yellow dragon design. In 1888, the imperial court promulgated the naval flag as the Qing national flag.

Influence

The notion of yellow as representative of Manchu ethnicity was used in the flags of the

Five Races Under One Union Five Races Under One Union was one of the major principles upon which the Republic of China was founded in 1911 at the time of the Xinhai Revolution. Its central tenet was the harmonious existence under one nation of what were considered the f ...

flag of the Republic of China, and on the flag of the

Empire of China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

, respectively, although in 1912 the former was challenged by Sun Yat-sen, who thought it inappropriate to use the traditional imperial color to represent Manchu ethnicity. Also, mustard yellow was used in the

flag of Manchukuo The flag of the Empire of Manchuria had a yellow field with four horizontal stripes of different colours in the upper-left corner. The colours of the flag were based on the colours on the Five Races Under One Union flags used by the Beiyang governm ...

in deference to the Qing dynasty, on whose flag it was based. The blue dragon was featured in the

Twelve Symbols national emblem The Twelve Symbols national emblem () was the state emblem of the Empire of China (1915–1916), Empire of China and the Beiyang government, Republic of China from 1913 to 1928. It was based on the ancient Chinese symbols of the Twelve Ornaments. ...

, which was the state emblem of China from 1913 to 1928.

Naval flags of Qing dynasty

;Horatio Nelson Lay's Proposal (1862) When the Qing dynasty purchased warships from the United Kingdom in 1862,

Horatio Nelson Lay Horatio Nelson Lay (23 January 1832 – 4 May 1898, Forest Hill, Kent, England) was a British diplomat, noted for his role in the ill-fated "Lay-Osborn Flotilla" during the Taiping Rebellion. Biography Early life Horatio Nelson Lay was born in ...

designed several naval flags based on the custom flag he designed. These proposals were not recognized by the Qing dynasty government. ;Beiyang Fleet (1874–1890) The Beiyang Fleet was created in 1874, and several rank flags were introduced based on the traditional five color officials' flags of the old Chinese navy. ;Beiyang Navy (1890–1909) The Beiyang Fleet became the national navy by ''Regulations of the Beiyang Fleet'' in 1888. However, rank flags were not updated until 1890, when William Metcalfe Lang and

Liu Buchan Liu Buchan (; 1852 – 1895) was a naval officer of the Beiyang Fleet, the most prominent of China's naval units in the late Qing Dynasty. He is best remembered for his actions as commander of the fleet flagship, the '' Dingyuan'', during the ...

disputed about their rank flags in an incident. Therefore, the

British Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fra ...

advisers proposed five new rank flags to replace the simple two rank flags system. However these proposals were not adopted by the Qing dynasty. New rank flags were introduced later in 1890. ;Imperial Navy (1909–1911) After the total defeat of the Beiyang Navy in

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...

in 1894, the new imperial navy was reorganized following the establishment of the department of the navy in 1909. The

Imperial Chinese Navy The Imperial Chinese Navy was the modern navy of the Qing dynasty of China established in 1875. An Imperial naval force in China first came into existence from 1132 during the Song dynasty and existed in some form until the end of the Qing dynasty ...

adopted the national flag in the canton of naval flags in 1909.Source
北京故宮《海軍旗式及章服圖說》
("Illustration of Naval flags and Uniforms", Palace Museum, Beijing, China)

Flags based on the Qing dynasty flag

;Chinese Eastern Railway Flag of

Chinese Eastern Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...

adopted a combination of Qing dynasty and Russian flags. The flag was not updated until 1915.Chinese Eastern Railway Company (China)
/ref>

References

External links

{{Qing dynasty topics

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

Qing dynasty culture Obsolete national flags 1862 introductions Eight Banners Dragons in art

Flags displaying animals