![[Weihaiwei colonial flag]](../images/c/cn_weiha.gif)
Last modified: 2020-07-31 by ian macdonald
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![[Copmmisioner flag of Weihaiwei]](../images/c/cn~whwcom.gif)
by Martin Grieve
According to Webster's New Geographical Dictionary (1988) Weihai or
Weihaiwei is a seaport in Shantung province, northeast China at the eastern
end of peninsula on the north coast, 40 miles east of Chefoo and on southern
shore of the Strait of Pohai; a naval base, ship-repairing center, fishing
port; good harbor protected by Liu-Kung Island. History: Chinese fleet
destroyed here by Japanese 1895 and port occupied by Japanese 1895-98; leased
to Great Britain 1898 and used as a naval base; returned to China 1930;
occupied by Japanese 1938-1945; occupied by Communist naval forces 1949.
Jarig Bakker, 30 December 1999
![[British badge for Weihaiwei]](../images/c/cn)whw.gif)
by Martin Grieve, 18 April 2005
This badge is also mentioned in those HMSO books I have right now, although
there's a footnote saying that the badge is "obsolete since 30th
September, 1930."
Dipesh Navsaria, 16 February 1996
The ducks depicted are Mandarin ducks (Aix galericulata) with the male in the foreground and the female partly obscured. These ducks were endemic to China but their population was severely threatened. They were imported to the UK and through a combination of escapes and releases, there is a thriving population in southern England.
The species has been 'rediscovered' at some unknown sites in China and the
wild population is no longer thought to be endangered. It is slightly ironic
that Britain borrowed a Chinese port and then a Chinese duck was given loan of
the New Forest area.
Ian Peters, 10 August 2003
image contributed by Keir Laird, 22 March 2009
I came across the Weihaiwei colonial flag at a museum in Weihaiwei: (see
here and here
It looks pretty authentic but then I was at the 'Anti-Japanese Fascist et cet.
Museum' at the Marco Polo Bridge and dozens of flags were made of various
countries as they looked back in the 1930s.
Keir Laird, 22 March 2009
I don't think that this flag can be authentic. Surely the real flag would not
have had those white lines sewn in across the St. George in the Union.
Peter Johnson, 23 March 2009
Only the flag of Weihaiwei is included in the web-site provided by
Keir, so we are not in a position to comment on whether the Liu Kung
Tau flag at the museum is a defaced Union Jack or an ensign.
It seems the main point of contention is the ill-formed Union Jack in
the photos. It is unclear if there are two Weihaiwei flags or one
flag with two photos. Without a close-up image or an actual viewing
of the flags we are not in a position to form a view on the apparent
age of the flags. The apparent condition of the flag(s) suggests that
it(they) may be re-constructions, though the actual badge of
Weihaiwei does appear to be an original hand painting. If they are
reconstructions, then the question becomes one of did the
reconstruction copy an ill-formed original, or was it a poorly made
modern flag? I suspect that it copied the original, and that there
are enough examples of distorted Union Jacks for the original to have
been made as poorly as the flag appears today.
I have a copy of the actual badge as
inserted into the Admiralty flag book and it is similar to that drawn
by Jaume Ollé (above). The badge shown on the Union Jack as drawn by Martin
Grieve is incorrect - it is merely the Chinese imperial dragon
treated as a governor's badge. I am inclined to agree with David
that a blue ensign with the Liu Kung Tau was unlikely to have
existed, particularly given the despatch from the Colonial Office
dated 1 December 1902 (which is shown on the same page in respect of
Weihaiwei) states "The design of the flag hitherto used by the
Commissioner of this Dependency is a dragon on the Union Jack and is
in my opinion quite unsuitable."
The only remaining uncertainty is
whether a Commissioner would have been entitled to the same garland
as a Governor at the time.
Ralph Kelly, 23 March 2009
Commissioners were entitled to a garland as the Order in Council of 7 August
1869 that introduced flags for governors covered, "Governors of all ranks and
denominations administering the Governments of British Colonies and Dependencies."
When the official was only an administrator the badge was on a Blue Ensign.
The only Union Jacks with a badge on a white disc with no garland were;
Principal Representative, British North Borneo Company;
Principal Representative, afloat, Imperial British East African Company;
Flag of the British South Africa Company;
Governor, Southern Rhodesia; and
Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia.
David Prothero, 24 March 2009
![[WeiHaiWei]](../images/c/cn-whw.jpg)
image located by MA Xiang-hong, 02 July 2012
I came across your website and want to mention that the flag in the image
contributed by Keir Laird in 2009 is a poorly-made replica. The original one has
a right-formed Union Jack, which is kept in Weihai Municipal Archives. Here
attach the photo for your good website.
The original flag was presented to us by Mr. Duncan Clark in 2004 whose
grandfather came to Weihaiwei in 1898 and developed business here during the
lease period.
MA Xiang-hong, Weihai Municipal Archives, China, 19 May 2010
I probably emailed you two years ago about the Weihaiwei territory flag with
a badge of Mandarin Ducks on the Union Jack. Here I let you know that Weihai
Archives keeps a Weihaiwei flag from the British lease period. There is a
photo
of it. The flag in the image contributed by Keir Laird in 2009 was a
wrongly-made replica. If he visited the island Museum again, he would find a
right flag replica now.
Here I have one question. Why was it a Union Jack flying above the Government
House instead of a Union Jack with the Mandarin Ducks? After all, the latter was
the territory flag. Here attach the photo of the flag over the Government House.
Xianghong Ma, 02 July 2012
A Union Jack with a territorial badge in the centre was introduced in 1869 as
the flag to be flown at the masthead of a vessel in which the governor of the
territory was embarked. The Blue Ensign with a territorial badge was the ensign
of a vessel operated by the government of that territory. The land flag of any
British territory was a plain Union Jack. Later in the century, when colonies
gained internal self-government, it became usual for them to adopt the relevant
Blue Ensign, or sometimes Red Ensign, as the flag to be used on land. The Union
Jack with badge continued to be a flag that was used only at sea until 1941,
when the regulations were changed so that the Union Jack with badge could be
flown by a governor when on land.
David Prothero, 02 July 2012
