China

(Adopted at the 18th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress on March 2, 1991, promulgated by Order No. 41 of the President of the People's Republic of China on March 2, 1991, and effective as of October 1, 1991)

Article 1 This Law is enacted, in accordance with the Constitution, with a view to upholding the dignity of the National Emblem and ensuring the correct use of the National Emblem.

Article 2 The National Emblem of the Peoples Republic of China shall comprise the design of Tian'anmen in its centre illuminated by five stars and encircled by ears of grain and a cogwheel.

The National Emblem of the People's Republic of China shall be made in accordance with the Design of the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China adopted by the Central People's Government Council in 1950, and the Directions for the Making of the Design of the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China promulgated by the General Office of the Central People's Government Council in the same year.

Article 3 The National Emblem of the People's Republic of China is the symbol and hallmark of the People's Republic of China. All organizations and citizens shall respect and care for the National Emblem.

(1) The standing committees of the people's congresses at or above the county level;
(2) The people's governments at or above the county level;
(3) The Central Military Commission;
(4) The people's courts at various levels and the special people's courts;
(5) The people's procuratorates at various levels and the special peoples procuratorates;
(6) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and
(7) The country's embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions stationed in other countries.

The people's governments of townships, nationality townships and towns may hang the National Emblem, specific measures for which shall be stipulated by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government in light of their actual conditions. The National Emblem shall be hung right in the middle on top of the front gate of the organ concerned.

(1) The rostrum of Tian'anmen and the Great Hall of the People in Beijing;
(2) The conference halls of the people's congresses at or above the county level and their standing committees;
(3) Courtrooms of the people's courts at various levels and of the special people's courts; and
(4) Appropriate places of ports of exit or entry.

Article 6 The seals of the following organs shall include the design of the National Emblem:

(1) The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress the State Council the Central Military Commission the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate;
(2) The special committees of the National People's Congress and the General Office and the working commissions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress the ministries and commissions under the State Council, departments directly under the State Council the General Office of the State Council and the administrative offices that shall, as prescribed by the State Council use seals including the design of the National Emblem, as well as the General Office of the Central Military Commission and other organs that shall as prescribed by the Central Military Commission, use seals including the design of the National Emblem;
(3) The standing committees of the local people's congresses, the local people's governments, the local people's courts and the local people's procuratorates at or above the county level, as well as the special people's courts and the special people's procuratorates; and
(4) The country's embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions stationed in other countries.

Article 7 There shall be printed on the following documents and publications the design of the National Emblem:

(1) Certificates of honour, letters of appointment and diplomatic documents issued by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the President of the People's Republic of China ,and the State Council;
(2) Envelopes, correspondence paper and invitation cards used in foreign affairs by the President of the People's Republic of China, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the Premier of the State Council, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, the President of the Supreme People's Court and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate in their respective capacities;
(3) Front covers of bulletins of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress the State Council the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate; and
(4) Front covers of the official editions of laws and regulations published by the State.

Article 8 Measures for the use of the design of the National Emblem in activities of foreign affairs and by the country's embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions stationed in other countries shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and submitted to the State Council for approval before implementation.

Article 9 Where the hanging of the National Emblem or the use of the design of the National Emblem is necessitated outside the scope specified in this Law, it shall be prescribed by the General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress or the General Office of the State Council, in conjunction with the departments concerned.

(1) Trademarks or advertisements;
(2) Furnishings or ornaments in everyday life;
(3) Private activities of celebration or condolence; and
(4) Other circumstances where the National Emblem and the design thereof may not be used, as prescribed by the General Office of the State Council.

Article 12 The National Emblem to be hung shall be uniformly made by enterprises designated by the State and the diameters of its usual dimensions shall be as follows:

The hanging, in special places, of the National Emblem in unusual dimensions shall be subject to the prior approval of the General Office of the State Council.

Article 13 Whoever desecrates the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China by publicly and wilfully burning, mutilating, scrawling on, defiling, or trampling upon it shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law; if the circumstances are relatively minor, the offender shall, with reference to the provisions of the Regulations on Administrative Penalties for Public Security, be punished by the public security organ with a detention of not more than fifteen days.

Article 14 The people's governments at or above the county level shall exercise supervision and control over the use of the National Emblem.

Flag Laws

Law of the People's Republic of China on the National Flag

(Adopted at the t4th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National Peoples Congress on June 28, 1990, promulgated by Order No. 28 of the President of the People's Republic of China on June 28, 1990 and effective as of October 1, 1990)

Article 1 The Law is enacted in accordance with the Constitution with a view to defending the dignity of the National Flag, enhancing citizens' consciousness of the State and promoting the spirit of patriotism.

Article 2 The National Flag of the People's Republic of China shall be a red flag with five stars.

The National Flag of the People's Republic of China shall be made according to the Directions for the Making of the National Flag promulgated by the Presidium of the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Article 3 The National Flag of the People's Republic of China is the symbol and hallmark of the People's Republic of China.

All citizens and organizations shall respect and care for the National Flag.

Article 4 The local people's governments at various levels shall exercise supervision over and administration of the display and use of the National Flag within their respective administrative areas.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the competent department in charge of communications under the State Council and the General Political Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army shall exercise supervision over and administration of the display and use of the National Flag within their respective jurisdiction.

The National Flag shall be made by enterprises designated by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

Article 5 The National Flag shall be displayed daily in the following places or premises of institutions:

(1) Tiananmen Square and Xinhuamen in Beijing;
(2) The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate; The National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference;
(3) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
(4) Airports, harbours and railway stations of entry or exit and other frontier ports, frontier stations and coastal defence stations.

Article 6 Departments under the State Council, the standing committees of the local people's congresses, the people's governments, the people's courts, the people's procuratorates and the local committees of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at various levels shall display the National Flag during working days.

Full-time schools shall display the National Flag daily, except during winter vacations, summer vacations and Sundays.

Article 7 State organs at all levels and mass organizations shall display the National Flag on National Day, International Labour Day, New Year's Day and the Spring Festival; the National Flag may be displayed, when conditions permit, in premises of enterprises, institutions, villagers' committees and residents' committees, in urban residential compounds (buildings) and in public places such as squares and parks.

In minority nationality areas where the Spring Festival is not a traditional festival, whether the National Flag is displayed during the Spring Festival shall be prescribed by the authorities practising self-government in the national autonomous areas.

In a national autonomous area, the National Flag may be displayed on the anniversary of the founding of the national autonomous area and during major traditional festivals of the minority nationalities.

Article 8 The National Flag may be displayed when important celebration and commemorative activities, large-scale cultural and sports activities and major exhibitions are held.

Article 9 Measures for the display and use of the National Flag in diplomatic activities and by the Chinese embassies and consulates stationed in foreign countries and other diplomatic representative agencies shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Article 10 The National Flag shall be displayed by military organs at barracks and on military vessels in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Central Military Commission.

Article 11 Measures for the display of the National Flag by civilian vessels or foreign vessels entering Chinese territorial waters shall be prescribed by the competent department in charge of communications under the State Council.

Measures for the display of the National Flag by public security vessels on frontier defence, security or fire control duties shall be prescribed by the departments in charge of public security under the State Council.

Article 12 The National Flag, when displayed under Articles 5, 6 and 7 of this Law, shall be hoisted in the morning and lowered in the evening.

Where the National Flag shall be displayed under this Law, when the weather is inclement, it is permissible that the Flag not be displayed.

Article 13 When the National Flag is displayed, a Flag-hoisting ceremony may be held.

When a Flag-hoisting ceremony is held, persons present shall face the Flag and stand at attention to salute the Flag, and the National Anthem may be played or sung while the National Flag is being hoisted.

A full-time middle school or primary school shall hold a Flag-hoisting ceremony once a week, except during vacations.

Article 14 The National Flag shall be lowered to the half staff as a token of mourning when the following persons pass away:

(1) President of the People's Republic of China, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Premier of the State Council and Chairman of the Central Military Commission;

(2) Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference;

(3) Persons who have made outstanding contributions to the People's Republic of China;

(4) Persons who have made outstanding contributions to world peace or the cause of human progress.

When unfortunate events causing especially serious casualties occur or when serious natural calamities have caused heavy casualties, the National Flag may be flown at half staff as a token of mourning.

The half-staffing of the National Flag in accordance with the provisions of (3) and (4) in the first paragraph and of the second paragraph of this Article shall be decided by the State Council.

Dates and places for the half-staffing of the National Flag under this Article shall be decided by the funeral organ established by the State, or shall be decided by the State Council.

Article 15 When the National Flag is displayed, it shall be placed in a prominent position.

The National Flag, when raised or carried in a procession with another flag or flags, shall be in front of the other flag or flags.

The National Flag, when displayed with another flag or flags, shall be either at the center, above the other flag or flags, or in a position of prominence.

When the National Flags of two or more nations are displayed in foreign affairs activities, relevant provisions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the international practice shall be followed.

Article 16 The National Flag, when hoisted or lowered from a vertical staff, shall be hoisted or lowered slowly. When hoisted, the National Flag must reach the peak of the staff; when lowered, it may not touch the ground.

The National Flag, when flown at half staff, shall be first hoisted to the peak of the staff and then lowered to a point where the distance between the top of the Flag and the peak of the staff is one third of the length of the staff; the Flag, when lowered, shall be again hoisted to the peak before it is lowered.

Article 17 No damaged, defiled, faded or substandard National Flag shall be displayed.

Article 18 The National Flag and the design thereof shall not be used as a trade mark or for advertising purposes, and shall not be used in private funeral activities.

Article 19 Whoever desecrates the National Flag of the People's Republic of China by publicly and wilfully burning, mutilating, scrawling on, defiling or trampling upon it shall be investigated for criminal responsibilities according to law; where the offence is relatively minor, he shall be detained for not more than 15 days by the public security organ in reference to the provisions of the Regulations on Administrative Penalties for Public Security.

Article 20 This Law shall enter into force as of October 1, 1990.⁵

I recently found a document online called GB 12982-2004, which is the official manufacturing sheet for the Chinese national flag. The construction sheet of the flag in the document is similar to what Željko has already presented here, but wanted to improve our drawing. The document can be downloaded at http://www.gb99.cn/ViewDownloadUrl.asp?ID=21219. Attached is my drawing of the flag with darker colors, which is called for in document GB 12983-2004. The colors in the document are in CIE, which an be seen at http://cnc.zhaobz.com/gb/a/4/zhaobzgb3024coo.rar. Both documents are in Chinese only.
If you have any problems downloading the documents, email me offlist. There are similar documents for the Hong Kong and Macao regional flags, if yall want those too.
Zachary Harden, 29 September 2009

Flag colors

image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 18 December 2016

The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12]) provides recommendations for national flag designs. Each NOC was sent an image of the flag, including the PMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may not be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the NOC believed the flag to be.
For PR China: PMS 186 red, 102 yellow. The vertical flag is simply the horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012

The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone colors: PMS 032 (red), and PMS 102 (yellow).

The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 0-90-80-5
Yellow: Pantone 116c, CMYK 0-20-90-0
Blue: Pantone 293c, CMYK 100-55-0-0
Green: Pantone 339c, CMYK 91-00-60-0

The Album des Pavillons 2023 already specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems.
Blue: Pantone 293c, CMYK 94-73-0-0, RGB 0-71-182
Red: Pantone 1788c, CMYK 0-95-85-0, RGB 238-28-37
Yellow: Pantone 803c, CMYK 10-0-95-0, RGB 255-255-0
Green: Pantone 339c, CMYK 76-0-59-0, RGB 0-178-134

Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone system: PMS 186C (red), and PMS 115C (yellow).

Wikipedia refers to National People's Congress website and gives the color values as follows:
Red: RGB 238-28-37, Hex: #EE1C25, CMYK 0-88-84-7
Yellow: RGB 255-255-0, Hex: #FFF F00, CMYK 0-0-100-0

Flag Color Codes gives the following color values:
Red: Hex. # EE1C25, RGB 238-28-37, CMYK 0-88-84-7, Pantone 186, RAL 3026
Yellow: Hex. # FFF F00, RGB 255-255-0, CMYK 0-0-100-0, Pantone 102, RAL 1026

Zoltan Horvath, 3 May 2024

The national flag colors are found in the document "GB 12983- 2004" and they are in CIE-LAB (1964). The document can be seen at https://www.xa-ys.com/a/jz/ziliaoxiazai/2023/0227/1841.html. The color depends on the flag fabric that is used.
Zachary Harden, 3 May 2024

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Description

Adoption Date and related information

Flag Laws

Macao

Description

Adoption Date and related information

Chinese flag nomenclature

I found a few Chinese flag terms in an article (in fact, a scholar dissertation), some of them being variations of the word already described at our page on "flag" in Mandarin.

The second Jinchuan campaign (1771 – 1776) : economic, social and political aspects of an important Qing period border war / Ulrich Theobald (2009) deals with a border war that afflicted China in XVIIIth century, the empire being somehow forced to take actions against the petty lords and chieftains of Gyelrong (Jinchuan in Chinese) who are ethnically and culturally very close to Tibetans but speak languages more distant to the Tibetan language family. The war went on for years, in a geographically very remote area, and was a financial disaster for the empire. The article describes the material conditions and organization of this war.
https://publikationen.uni-tuebingen.de/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10900/46846/pdf/Theobald.pdf

The research for flag terms is made rather lengthy since two of the Chinese armies were respectively named Eight Banners (Mongols and Machus soldiers) and Green Standard Army (Chinese soldiers). So, the terms I could find are :
- dentated "centipede" girdan banner (girdan du 吉爾丹纛), p.52 with an image. This banner was "normally reserved for the emperor in person" but was allowed to the escort of Fuheng, the commander-in-chief of the whole army.
- large flags (dadu 大纛), p.256
- platoon standards (shizhangqi 什長旗), p.256
- commander's red flags (duzhen hongqi 督陣紅旗), p.256
- red banner (hongqi 紅旗), p.83. This banner was sent to Beijing to indicate victory.
We also learn p.256 that banners had an official life cycle of 25 years.

A very interesting passage, p.96, says this :
"While the standards of the Chinese troops were green, as the name suggests, the standards of the Eight Banners were yellow, red, white, and blue, in two different types, namely plain (zheng 正) and bordered (xiang 鑲)".

"For the Chinese troops the colour green was used instead of black, the latter being one of the five traditional colours of Chinese cosmology (corresponding to the points of the compass, the annual seasons, etc.). While the Banner troops were accompanied with standards of the more ‘active’ or livelier colours yellow (imperial center), red (south, summer), white (west, autumn) and blue [blue/green, emerald] (east, spring), the Chinese Green Standard troops were allocated the ‘passive’ and ‘non-acting’ colour black (resp. green), which stands for the ordinary people, the subjects of the Manchu emperors".
Corentin Chamboredon, 13 October 2017

Footnotes

Artistic credits:

China

National flag by António Martins-Tuválkin, 09 May 2016
PLA flags, Naval Ensign and Construction Detail by Željko Heimer
State arms by Željko Heimer
National emblem from Embassy of the People's Republic of China

Hong Kong

Special Administrative Region Flag by Martin Grieve and António Martins-Tuválkin, 25 April 2016