The National Emblem of the People's Republic of China contains in a red circle a representation of

Tiananmen Gate The Tiananmen (also Tian'anmen (天安门), Tienanmen, T’ien-an Men; ), or the Gate of Heaven-Sent Pacification, is a monumental gate in the city center of Beijing, China, the front gate of the Imperial City of Beijing, located near the ...

, the entrance gate to the Forbidden City, where Mao Zedong declared the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Above this representation are the five stars found on the

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and symbolizes a given nation. It is flown by the government of that nation, but usually can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanings for its colours ...

. The largest star represents the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), while the four smaller stars represent the four social classes as defined in Maoism. The emblem is described as being "composed of patterns of the national flag":

...The red color of the flag symbolizes revolution and the yellow color of the stars the golden brilliant rays radiating from the vast red land. The design of four smaller stars surrounding a bigger one signifies the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). —China Yearbook 2004

The outer border of the red circle shows sheaves of wheat and the inner sheaves of rice, which together represent agricultural workers. At the center of the bottom portion of the border is a cog-wheel that represents industrial workers. According to ''The Description of the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China'' (), these elements taken together symbolise the revolutionary struggles of the Chinese people since the May Fourth Movement and the coalition of the

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...

which succeeded in founding the People's Republic of China.

History

The national emblem appearing in modern times is often designed directly based on European heraldry. But in fact, the development of national emblem design in human society also has a long process. As a symbol of a country, even without the artistic concept of European heraldry, human beings will explore totem worship with similar concept in social practice. For example, there was no legal national emblem in the Qing Dynasty, but the "dragon" totem in the "Yellow Dragon flag" was widely used as a substantive national emblem in the official designs of the government such as silver coins and passports. In the early days of the people's Republic of China, there was also the design of the national seal with the nature of the national emblem. In ancient China, the national seal was the certificate of the emperors of the orthodox dynasties in previous dynasties. Its symbolic power and stamping effect were similar to that of the modern national emblem. When the people's Republic of China was just established, it also took the traditional seal designed based on the traditional seal as an official duty (for example, the national seal "seal of the Central People's Government of the people's Republic of China" in the National Museum of China), but later it was officially changed to the European round seal design.

Beiyang period

The Empire of China during the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...

-led Qing dynasty did not have an official state emblem, but the flag featured the azure dragon on a plain yellow field with a red sun of the three-legged crow in the upper left corner. It became the first national flag of China and is usually referred to as the

Yellow Dragon Flag The flag of the Qing dynasty was an emblem adopted in the late 19th century featuring the Azure Dragon on a plain yellow field with the red flaming pearl in the upper left corner. It became the first national flag of China and is usually referred ...

. Following the end of Manchu rule, new national symbols were deemed necessary by the leaders to represent the changed circumstances. The renowned writers Lu Xun, Qian Daosun, and Xu Shoushang from the Ministry of Education were tasked with designing a new national emblem. It was presented on August 28, 1912, and was adopted as national emblem in February 1913. President-Emperor Yuan Shikai continued its use during his short imperial reign from 1915 to 1916. The emblem is based on the ancient symbols of the

Twelve Ornaments The Twelve Ornaments () are a group of ancient Chinese symbols and designs that are considered highly auspicious. They were employed in the decoration of textile fabrics in ancient China, which signified authority and power, and were embroidered ...

. These are first mentioned as already ancient in the ''

Book of Documents The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorica ...

'' by

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun () was a legendary leader of ancient China, regarded by some sources as one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors being the last of the Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. Tradition a ...

, who was one of the legendary

Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were two groups of mythological rulers in ancient north China. The Three Sovereigns supposedly lived long before The Five Emperors, who have been assigned dates in a period from 3162 BC to 2070 BC. Today ...

. Oral tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC. According to the book, the emperor wished for the symbols to be used on official robes of the state.

Nationalist period

National Emblem of the Republic of China

The Northern Expedition led by General

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 the Kuomintang party led to the overthrow of the fractious yet internationally recognized Beiyang government in 1928. This ushered in a one-party state under the Kuomintang known as the Nanjing decade. The state emblem was therefore replaced with the Kuomintang Blue Sky with a White Sun party symbol. The "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth" flag has remained the flag of the Republic of China to this day. During this period, 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 of National Father Sun Yat-sen displayed in the center. After the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of China, the party flag was removed from such a display and the national flag was moved to the center. Since the ROC government moved to Taiwan and especially in the years since the end of martial law the Kuominmtang 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 the

pan-blue coalition The pan-Blue coalition, pan-Blue force or pan-Blue groups is a political coalition in the Republic of China (Taiwan) consisting of the Kuomintang (KMT), People First Party (PFP), New Party (CNP), Non-Partisan Solidarity Union (NPSU), and Young ...

Communist period

National Emblem of the Chinese Soviet Republic

The first communist government in China known as the Chinese Soviet Republic had the emblem adopted in 1934. It consisted of an

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industri ...

on a globe, and the grain ears are placed under and on both sides of the earth. Above the earth and the five-pointed star is written the "Chinese Soviet Republic" on the top, and the " Workers of the world, unite!" written on the bottom. On July 10, 1949, the government held a public competition for the design of the national emblem, however no satisfactory designs were selected. Therefore, on September 27, 1949, the First Plenary Session of

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

(CPPCC) decided to invite designers for the proposals of the national emblem and two groups from two universities were selected in September 1949. Three proposals were selected for the first round discussion: *The designers from China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Zhang Ding, Zhang Guangyu, Zhou Lingzhao and Zhong Ling, handed out their proposals with 5 variations on September 25, 1949. The symbolism of their first design was: The red star symbolizes Communism and the CCP. The cog and wheat/rice symbolizes unification of industrial workers and peasants. The rising earth with China in red symbolizes the socialist revolution in China and the world revolution ideal on Asian counties. 31 rays behind the earth symbolizes the 31 provincial administrative divisions at that time. The name of the People's Republic of China is written on the red ribbon below. The design was based on their design of the emblem of CPPCC, and was influenced by

Socialist heraldry Socialist-style emblems usually follow a unique style consisting of communist symbolism. Although commonly referred to as coats of arms, most are not actually traditional heraldic achievements. Many communist governments purposely diverged fro ...

of the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...

. *The designers from the Department of Architecture at Tsinghua University, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Mo Zongjiang, Zhu Changzhong, Li Zongjin and Gao Zhuang, handed their proposal on October 30, 1949. According to their proposal, the design was a mixture of traditional Chinese culture and Maoist New Democratic Revolution ideals. The design imitated the style of mirrors in Han dynasty, symbolizing brightness. The disc was made of

jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

, a symbol of peace and unity. Decorative carvings on the disc was in Tang dynasty style. The stars from national flag and a cog were placed in the center of the disc, surrounded by wheats, symbolizing unity of working class and socialism. The red ribbon tied a smaller jade ring, symbolising the unification of Chinese people. *The other proposal by Zhang Ding, Zhang Guangyu, Zhou Lingzhao, was a perspective depiction of Tian'anmen gate. Emblem of China Draft CAFA 1949-9.jpg, Proposals of China Central Academy of Fine Arts, September 25, 1949 PRC_Emblem_Draft_Lin_Huiyin.jpg, Proposal of Tsinghua University, October 30, 1949 The China National Emblem's Design, Tsinghua University

The China National Emblem's Design, Tsinghua University

Members of the first CPPCC committee discussed these three proposals on June 10, 1950. The result of the discussion was, the China Central Academy of Fine Arts proposal was too colourful to be regarded as trademarks, and proposal from Tsinghua University was regarded as

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...

due to its use of traditional symbols. The committee suggested the groups include the Tian'anmen Gate, a symbol of Chinese revolution that served as the location of the May Fourth Movement and foundation ceremony of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. The two groups then worked on a second round of proposals. The second proposal from Tsinghua University standardized the design of the Tian'anmen Gate on the emblem and selected red and yellow as the main colours. Their proposal was selected and the design was standardized and simplified by Gao Zhuang. This design was officially made the national emblem on 20 September 1950 by the Central People's Government. Draft Zhangding.jpg, Proposal of China Central Academy of Fine Arts
June 15, 1950 Emblem of China Draft CAFA 1950-1.jpg, Proposal of China Central Academy of Fine Arts Emblem of China Draft THU 1950-6-17.jpg, Proposal of Tsinghua University
June 17, 1950 Drafted Emblem of China THU 2.jpg, Proposal of Tsinghua University Drafted Emblem of China THU 4.png, Proposal of Tsinghua University Drafted Emblem of China THU No.9.png, Proposal of Tsinghua University Drafted Emblem of China THU 3.png, Proposal of Tsinghua University The emblem is also displayed, along with the national flag, at the end of a video clip with the national anthem, ''

March of the Volunteers The "March of the Volunteers" (), originally titled the "March of the Anti-Manchukuo Counter-Japan Volunteers", has been the official national anthem of the People's Republic of China since 1978. Unlike previous Chinese state anthems, it was ...

'', regularly played on Chinese television such as state-run

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...

(CCTV) on a daily basis.

Construction

National standard of China: GB 15093-2008 specifies the construction, material and color of the national emblem.

Emblems of subdivisions

Before the Communist takeover of Mainland China, the ROC had provinces design their own emblems. Only two emblems were used so far. On April 15, 1985, Taiyuan City officially announced its emblem, becoming the first city in the People's Republic of China to have a city emblem. Hong Kong and Macao each have their own emblem. The National People's Congress have passed the standardized use of the two special administrative regions' emblems. Under Chinese law since November 1997, only Hong Kong and Macau are allowed to have their own emblems and other localities that had them had to stop using theirs. This rule was ignored in 2011 when the city of Chengdu chose the Golden Sun Bird found under the city's Jinsha site as its emblem.

Provinces

File:Fukien Provincial Government Seal.svg, Fujian (

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

–2019) File:Taiwan Province Government emblem.svg, Taiwan (1945–2018)

Cities

File:Sun and Immortal Bird Emblem in Jinsha.svg,

Chengdu Chengdu (, ; Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 成都; pinyin: ''Chéngdū''; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively Romanization of Chi ...

File:Kunming Emblem.svg,

Kunming Kunming (; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquar ...

(1922-1949) File:廣州市市徽 (1926-1949).svg, Guangzhou (1926–1949) File:City seal of Harbin.png,

Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...

File:Emblem of Qingdao City.svg,

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

Special administrative regions

File:Regional Emblem of Hong Kong.svg, Hong Kong File:Regional Emblem of Macau.svg, Macau

Historical emblems

File:Seal of Ming dynasty.svg, Imperial Seal of the Ming dynasty. File:Seal of Qing dynasty.svg, Imperial Seal of the Qing dynasty. File:Seal of the Taiping heavenly kingdom.svg, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864) File:Twelve Symbols national emblem of China.svg, National emblem of 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 ...

(1912–1927) and 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 ...

(1915–1916) File:National Emblem of the Republic of China.svg, Blue Sky with a White Sun emblem of the

(1928–present) and the Roundel of the Republic of China Air Force (1991–present) File:Roundel of the Republic of China Air force.svg, Roundel of the Republic of China Air Force (1928–1991) File:Republic of China (Taiwan) 1949 -1991.svg, Roundel of the Republic of China Air Force (1928–1991), light version File:Emblem of Chinese Taipei for Olympic games.svg, Emblem of

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 ...

used during the Olympic Games (1981–present) File:Taiwanese passport seal.svg, Emblem of the Republic of China with encircling text as depicted on ROC passports (2021–present) File:National Emblem of the Chinese Soviet Republic.svg, Emblem of the Chinese Soviet Republic (1934–1937) File:Seal of the North Shanxi Autonomous Goverment.svg, North Shanxi Autonomous Government (1937–1939) File:Emblem of Mengjiang.svg, Mengjiang (1939–1945) File:Emblem of the Emperor of Manchukuo.svg,

Imperial Seal of Manchukuo The Imperial Seal of the Emperor of Manchukuo () had a design of orchid (''Cymbidium goeringii'') flower, with five sorghum branches in between the five orchid petals. It was entirely yellow. The design was based on Cymbidium goeringii, the favo ...

(1932–1945) File:Seal of the Shanghai International Settlement pre-WWI.svg, Shanghai International Settlement File:Seal of the Shanghai International Settlement.svg, Shanghai International Settlement File:Emblem of the Republic of China-Nanjing 1940-1945.svg, Emblem of the National Reorganized Government of the Republic of China (1940–1945) File:Seal of the People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China.svg,

Seal of the People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China The Seal of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China (), or the Founding Seal (), was the national seal of People's Republic of China from 1949 to 1959. It is not in use anymore, and is kept in the National Museum of C ...

(1949-1959) File:National Emblem of the People's Republic of China (2).svg, Emblem of the People's Republic of China (1950–present)