mobile View, to the German Version tap the flag

China

• People's Republic of China
• communist republic with multi-party-system
• own name: Zhonghuá Renmin Gongheguo

Contents

• Flags

• Historical Flags

• regional Flags:

   – Tibet

   – East Turkestan

   – Taiwan

   – Manchukuo

   – Hong Kong

   – Macau

• Meaning/Origin of the Flag

• Coat of Arms

• Historical Coats of Arms

• Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

• Aircraft Roundel

• Map

• Numbers and Facts

• History

• Origin of the Country's Name

Flags

National and merchant flag,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Corel Draw 4, Wikipedia (EN)





Flag of the Armed Forces,
ratio = 5:4,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)





Naval flag,
ratio = 5:4,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)





Flag of the Army,
ratio = 5:4,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)





Flag of the Air Force,
ratio = 5:4,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)





Customs flag,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)

Historical Flags

1872–1889,
Flag of the Empire of China,
Source, by: Flags of the World, !Original:清朝政府Vector: Sodacan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons





1889–1911,
Flag of the Empire of China,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Flags of the World, !Original:清朝政府Vector: Sodacan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons





1862(?)–1911,
Flag of the Emperor of China,
Source, by: Flags of the World !Original:清朝政府Vector: Sodacan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons



1915–1916,
Empire of China,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Flags of the World, Wikipedia (DE)





1912–1928,
National and merchant flag,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Flags of the World, Wikipedia (EN)





1912–1928,
Naval flag,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Die Welt im bunten Flaggenbild





1928–1949,
National, state and naval flag,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Die Welt im bunten Flaggenbild





1929–1949,
Merchant flag,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Die Welt im bunten Flaggenbild





1940–1945,
Flag of China under the Nanking Government
Source, by: Der neue Brockhaus



1942–1945,
Naval flag of China under the Nanking Government,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)





since 1948/1949,
Revolutionary Committee of the Kuomintang,
ratio = 2:3,
Source, by: Jürgen Kaltschmitt

Meaning/Origin of the Flag

The flag of the Chinese empire of the Quing Dynasty was single coloured yellow bunting and showed a blue dragon in the middle. The color yellow is the color of the Mandshu-People and as well of the Manchurian Qing dynasty, which ruled over China between 1644 and 1911. The dragon stands for the East. A flag in european style was initially introduced in 1889. The Chinese flags were shaped like pennants in the times before.
(Source: Die Welt der Flaggen, Flaggen und Wappen der Welt)

In the year 1911 the monarchy was unseated, and the republic was proclaimed. In this context a new flag was introduced. This was the flag of the former province of Yangtse. It showed five horizontal stripes in red, yellow, blue, white and black. The five colors should represent the five races of China: red = Han-Chinese, yellow = Manchurians, blue = Mongolians, white = Hui and Turkestanians (Uigurs), black = Tibetans. Red is the colour of the Han-Chinese – the dominant mayority – it was typical above.
(Source: Die Welt der Flaggen, Flags of the World)

President and Commander Yuan Shikai tried from the end of 1915 until early 1916 to restore the Empire of China, under its own dynasty "Hongxian". The flag of the Hongxian Empire was oriented the flag of the Republic with the five stripes. The lying all over red cross, symbolized the rule of the people of Han-Chinese, over the peoples of the Manchu, Mongolian, Uyghur and Tibetan.
(Source: Flags of the World)

Already in the year 1895 has established a reform movement, the Chinese Society of Regeneration. The flag of this organization was a blue flag, with a white sun with twelve beams in the middle of the flag. In the year 1912 was established the national-republican Kuomintang party. The Kuomintang choosed a single colour red flag with the blue flag of the regeneration society in the upper canton. The same flag was already in this year introduced als naval flag. In a long civil war the Kuomintang were finally victorious in the year 1928. The flag of the Kuomintang became to the new national flag, wich is still in use on Taiwan (see Taiwan).
(Source: Die Welt der Flaggen, Wikipedia (DE))

In the year 1935 the communists succeed to establish themself in the province Shanxi. Their "people liberation army" used a single-coloured red flag with a golden star in the upper canton as well as with the numbers "1" and "8". They remember the date of the foundation of the unit, the 1st of August 1928. This flag is until today the flag of the armed forces of China.
(Source: Die Welt der Flaggen, Atlas zur Geschichte)

In the year 1931 the Japanese had occupied Manchuria, and they established the puppet state of Manchoukuo. In 1937 began the second Chinese-Japanese war, and Japan occupied large parts of China. In the north of Inner Mongolia they established the puppet state of Mengjiang. In Nanking (Nanjing) was installed (to 1945, the year of the withdrawal of the Japanese) a pro-Japanese government for China. This continued the use of the flag of the Kuomintang, however added by a yellow pennant and on it was written: "Peace, Anti-Communism, National Construction".
(Source: Atlas zur Geschichte, Wikipedia (EN), Der neue Brockhaus)

In the "Autumn Agreement" from October 1945 Chiang Kai Shek (KMT) and Mao Tse-Tung (Communists) agreed a mutual ceasefire and even elections for a representative assembly. As a result, the Communist Party of China used in addition to their red party flag with hammer and sickle – at least in campaign events – the flag of the Republic of China with the white sun, as the national flag. When the Civil War broke out open again in 1946, this practice ends. In the following civil war, which endures until 1949, the communists were victorious against the Kuomintang. These rescued themselves to Taiwan. The island uses the flags of the Kuomintang until today. On 1st of October in 1949 was established the People's Republic of China by the victorious communists, and they introduced a new flag. It is a single coloured red flag with one large and four smaller golden five-pointed stars in the upper canton. Red stands for the communism, but even for the Han, too. The five stars symbolize China, Manchuria, Mongolia, Sinkiang (East Turkestan) and Tibet, but furthermore the communist party and the four working classes: workers, farmers, citizens and "patriotic capitalists".
(Source: Flaggen Wappen Hymnen)

Coat of Arms

Coat of arms of the People's Republic of China,
Source: Corel Draw 4

Historical Coats of Arms

to 1911,
Coat of arms of the Empire of China



1928–1949,
(on Taiwan until today)
Coat of arms of the Republic of China,
Source: Corel Draw 4

Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

The symbol and emblem of the Empire of China was the dragon. It was the symbol of the Manchurian Qing dynasty, which ruled China between 1644 and 1911. The in the civil war of the Republic of China victorious Kuomintang introduced in 1928 its own emblem as the new national emblem. It goes back to the logo of the Chinese Society of Regeneration from 1895 and shows a white, twelve-pointed sun on a blue disc. It is reminiscent of the twelve two-hour parts of the day, symbolizing the spirit of unstoppable progress. The emblem is still used in Taiwan (see Taiwan). The coat of arms of the People's Republic of China was introduced on 20th of September in 1950. It shows in gold on red the gate to the Forbidden City on Tiananmen Square, the midpoint, the center of power in the capital of the country. Above the five golden stars from the flag. The whole is surrounded by a wreath of wheat and rice grains. They stand for the agriculture, and in the lower part of the arms they are connected by red flags with a gear, which stands for the industry.

Source: Wappen und Flaggen aller Nationen, Flaggen Wappen Hymnen

Aircraft Roundel

1916-1920,
Aircraft Roundel,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)



1920-1928,
Aircraft Roundel,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)



1928-1949,
Aircraft Roundel,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)



1942-1945,
Aircraft Roundel under the Nanking Government,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)



since 1949,
Aircraft Roundel,
Source, by: Wikipedia (EN)

Map

Location:

Source: CIA World Factbook

Map of the country:

Source: CIA World Factbook

Numbers and Facts

Area: 3.705.390 square miles

Inhabitants: 1.400.050.000 (2019), thereof 91,5% Han, 1,2% Zhuang, 0,8% Uyghurs (East Turkestanians), 0,7% Hui, 0,7% Manchu, 0,6% Miao, 0,6% Yi, 0,6% Tujia, 0,4% Tibetans, 0,4% Mongols, 0,2% Dong, 0,2% Bouyei, 0,2% Yao

Religions: 73,6% Non-religious, 15,9% Buddhist, 2,5% Christian, 0,9% Animist, 0,8% Muslim

Density of Population: 378 inh./sq.mi.

Capital: Beijing (Peking), 21.542.000 inh. (2018)

official Language: Chinese (Mandarin dialect)

other Languages: Chinese (Cantonese dialect), Mongolian, a.o.

Currency: 1 Renminbi Yuan (RMB, CNY, RMB¥, CN¥) = 10 Jiao = 100 Fen

Time Zone: GMT + 8 h

Source: Wikipedia (D)

History

20th–15th cent. B.C. · Hsia dynasty

15th–11th cent. B.C. · Shang (Yin) dynasty

11th cent.–249 B.C. · Dshou dynasty

221–206 B.C. · Tjin (Qin) dynasty

206 B.C.–220 · Han dynasty

265–420 · Djin dynasty

386–598 · China crumbles in partial empires

618–907 · Tang dynasty

960–1120 · Sung (Song) dynasty

1234 · Mongolian invades

1271–1368 · Mongol Yüan (Yuan) dynasty

1272–1292 · Marco Polo in China

1368–1644 · Ming dynasty

1557 · Portugal leases the Macau Peninsula from China

1644 · establishment of the Manchurian Tjing (Qing) dynasty (until 1911)

1720 · Tibet becomes Chinese

1757 · Dsungaria becomes Chinese

1840–1842 · 1st Opium War

1841 · Hongkong becomes leased to United Kingdom

1856–1860 · 2nd Opium War

1884–1885 · Chinese-French war

1894–1895 · Chinese-Japanese war, Taiwan comes to Japan, Korea becomes independent

1898 · Kiaochow to the German Empire, Guangzhouwan comes to France, Weihaiwei to United Kingdom, Port Arthur to Russia

1899–1901 · boxer rebellion

10th of October in 1911 · fall of the monarchy

October to December 1912 · independence for Tibet, East Turkestan (Dsungaria) and the Outer Mongolia

1st of January in 1912 · poclamation of Republic of China

1915–1916 · Empire of China of President Yuan Shikai

1916–1928 · civil war

10th of October in 1928 · victory of Kuomintang, poclamation of th national government

1928–1935 · communist establishment in the province Shanxi

1931 · Japan occupies Manchuria

1932 · foundation of Manchoukuo

1937 · Chinese-Japanese war, Japan occupies large parts of China until 1945, foundation of Mengjiang

1937–1945 · war of the communists and Kuomintang against Japan

1945–1949 · war of the communist against the Kuomintang

1949 · the Kuomintang go to Taiwan

1st of October in 1949 · proclamation of the people's republic

1966 · culture revolution

1979 · war against Vietnam

1989 · oppression of the democracy movement

since 1992/93 · wary reforms

Source: Atlas zur Geschichte, World Statesmen, Wikipedia (D, Deutsche Kolonien, Länder der Erde

Origin of the Country's Name

The name "China" is based on the legendary emperor and founder of the Qin Dynasty (speak Chin), who united the country in the third century B.C. China names itself "Zhonghua", which means "Empire of the Middle".

Source: Handbuch der geographischen Namen