The National Emblem of the People's Republic of China is a

national symbol A national symbol is a manifestation of a nation or community, serving as a representation of their National identity, identity and values. National symbols may be not only applied to sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and contains in a red circle a representation of Tiananmen Gate, the entrance gate to the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...

imperial palace complex of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, where

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

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 national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...

. The largest star represents the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP), while the four smaller stars represent the four revolutionary social classes as defined in

Maoism Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

. The emblem is described as being "composed of patterns of the national flag":Description of the National Emblem from Chinese Government web portal.

...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 Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

and the inner sheaves of

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, 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 symbolize the revolutionary struggles of the Chinese people since the

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese cultural and anti-imperialist political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen to protest the Chinese government's weak response ...

and the coalition of the

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

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

History

Beiyang period

The Empire of China during the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

-led

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

did not have an official state emblem, but the flag featured the

azure dragon The Azure Dragon ( zh, c=青龍, p=Qīnglóng) is one of the Dragon King, Dragon Gods who represent the mount or Chthonic deities, chthonic forces of the Wufang Shangdi, Five Regions' Highest Deities (). It is also one of the Four Symbols o ...

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. 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 An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

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 Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 18596 June 1916) was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first official president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and ...

continued its use during his short imperial reign from 1915 to 1916. The emblem is based on the ancient symbols of the Twelve Ornaments. These are first mentioned as already ancient in the ''

Book of Documents The ''Book of Documents'' ( zh, p=Shūjīng, c=書經, w=Shu King) or the ''Classic of History'', is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorical prose attributed to figures of ancient China, a ...

'' by

Emperor Shun Emperor Shun ( zh, c=帝舜, p=Dì Shùn) 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 229 ...

, who was one of the legendary

Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors According to Chinese mythology and traditional Chinese historiography, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors () were a series of sage Chinese emperors, and the first Emperors of China. Today, they are considered culture heroes, but they wer ...

. 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 The Northern Expedition was a military campaign launched by the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Kuomintang (KMT) against the Beiyang government and other regional warlords in 1926. The purpose of the campaign was to reunify China prop ...

led by Generallissimo Chiang Kai-shek and the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

party led to the overthrow of the fractious yet internationally recognized

Beiyang government The Beiyang government was the internationally recognized government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China between 1912 and 1928, based in Beijing. It was dominated by the generals of the Beiyang Army, giving it its name. B ...

in 1928. This ushered in a

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...

under the Kuomintang known as the Nanjing decade. The state emblem was therefore replaced with the Kuomintang

Blue Sky with a White Sun The Blue Sky with a White Sun ( zh , t = 青天白日 , p = Qīngtiān Báirì ) is the national emblem of the Taiwan, Republic of China, both during its history in Republic of China (1912–1949), mainland China and on History of Taiwan (1945–p ...

party symbol. The "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth" flag has remained the

flag of the Republic of China The flag of the Republic of China, commonly called the flag of Taiwan, consists of a red field with a blue canton bearing a white disk surrounded by twelve triangles; said symbols symbolize the sun and rays of light emanating from it, res ...

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 Constitution of the Republic of China is the fifth and current constitution of the Republic of China (ROC), ratified by the Kuomintang during the Constituent National Assembly session on 25 December 1946, in Nanking, and adopted on 25 De ...

, 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 Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

the Kuomintang 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 You ...

Communist period

National Emblem of the Chinese Soviet Republic

The first communist government in China known as the

Chinese Soviet Republic The Chinese Soviet Republic (CSR) was a state within China, proclaimed on 7 November 1931 by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders Mao Zedong and Zhu De in the early stages of the Chinese Civil War. The discontiguous territories of the CSR incl ...

had the emblem adopted in 1934. It consisted of a

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between industrial and agricultural workers. It was first adopted during the Russian Revolution at the end of World War I, the hammer representing wo ...

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! The political slogan "Workers of the world, unite!" is one of the rallying cries from ''The Communist Manifesto'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (, literally , but soon popularised in English language, English as "Workers of the wo ...

" 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) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

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 Charter of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and was influenced by Socialist heraldry of the

Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...

. *The designers from the Department of Architecture at

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (THU) is a public university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Constructio ...

, 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 Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

New Democratic Revolution ideals. The design imitated the style of mirrors in

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

, symbolizing brightness. The disc was made of

jade Jade is an umbrella term for two different types of decorative rocks used for jewelry or Ornament (art), ornaments. Jade is often referred to by either of two different silicate mineral names: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in t ...

, 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 Members of the first Charter of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference 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 ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

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

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 round proposals from Tsinghua University were based on standardized design of the Tian'anmen Gate on the emblem and red and yellow were chosen as the main colours. Draft Zhangding.jpg, Proposal of China Central Academy of Fine Arts
No.1 - June 15, 1950 Emblem of China Draft CAFA 1950-1.jpg, Proposal of China Central Academy of Fine Arts
No.2 Drafted Emblem of China THU 2.jpg, Proposal of Tsinghua University
No.1 Drafted Emblem of China THU 4.png, Proposal of Tsinghua University
No.2 Drafted Emblem of China THU No.9.png, Proposal of Tsinghua University
No.3 Drafted Emblem of China THU 3.png, Proposal of Tsinghua University At the

committee meeting on June 15, proposals from Tsinghua University were chosen and the committee suggested "Combine the design of No.1 and No.3. with outer ring of No.1 and content of No.3". Tsinghua University presented their new design and their proposal was selected and officially made the national emblem on 20 September 1950 by the Central People's Government. The selected design was further standardized and simplified by Gao Zhuang and was confirmed on August 18, 1950. Emblem of China Draft THU 1950-6-17.jpg, Initial design. June 17, 1950 National Emblem of China 1950-6-17 Draft Sketch.png, Sketch of the initial design. June 20, 1950 National Emblem of China 1950-6-17 Draft Colorized.png, Initial design. June 20, 1950

Construction

The Law of the People's Republic of China on the National Emblem sets the standards of the national emblem. 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 Taiyuan; Mandarin pronunciation: (Jin Chinese, Taiyuan Jin: /tʰai˦˥ ye˩˩/) is the capital of Shanxi, China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. It is an industrial base foc ...

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 Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...

chose the Golden Sun Bird found under the city's Jinsha site as its emblem.

Cities

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

File:廣州市市徽 (1926-1949).svg,

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

(1926–1949) File:Kunming Emblem.svg,

Kunming Kunming is the capital and largest city of the province of Yunnan in China. The political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province, Kunming is also the seat of the provincial government. During World War II, Kunming was a Ch ...

(1922–1949)

Special administrative regions

File:Regional Emblem of Hong Kong.svg,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

File:Regional Emblem of Macau.svg,

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

Historical emblems

File:Seal of Ming dynasty.svg, Imperial Seal of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

. File:Seal of Qing dynasty.svg, Imperial Seal of the

. File:Seal of the Taiping heavenly kingdom.svg,

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1851–1864), was a theocratic monarchy which sought to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The Heavenly Kingdom, or Heavenly Dynasty, was led by Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka man from Guan ...

(1851–1864) File:Twelve Symbols national emblem of China.svg,

National emblem A national emblem is an emblem or seal that is reserved for use by a nation state or multi-national state as a symbol of that nation. Many nations have a seal or emblem in addition to a national flag. Other national symbols, such as national ...

of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

(1912–1927) and the Empire of China (1915–1916) File:National Emblem of the Republic of China.svg,

emblem of the

(1928–present) and the Roundel of the Republic of China Air Force (1991–present) File:Roundel of the Republic of China (1927–1940) – Central Government.svg, Roundel of the Republic of China Air Force (1928–1991) File:Roundel of the Republic of China (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 the ...

used during the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(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

(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 (1932–1945) File:Seal of the Shanghai International Settlement pre-WWI.svg,

Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the 1863 merger of the British Concession (Shanghai), British and American Concession (Shanghai), American list of former foreign enclaves in China, enclaves in Shanghai, in which Brit ...

(pre WWI) File:Seal of the Shanghai International Settlement.svg,

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

(1950–present)