Flag of Taiwan
Asia
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Taipei
- Flag adopted
- 1928
- Population
- 23,317,031
- Area
- 36,197 km²
- Languages
- Chinese
- Currency
- New Taiwan dollar ($) — TWD
- Demonym
- Taiwanese
- Government
- semi-presidential republic
- Subregion
- Eastern Asia
- Driving side
- Right
- Timezones
- UTC+08:00
Religions
- Buddhist 35.3%
- Taoist 33.2%
- None 18.2%
- folk religion 10%
- Christian 3.9%
About This Flag
The flag of Taiwan, officially the flag of the Republic of China, features a red field with a dark blue canton in the upper-left corner bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays. The blue canton with white sun was originally the party flag of the Kuomintang (KMT, the Chinese Nationalist Party), designed by Lu Haodong in 1895 and later placed on a red background to serve as the national flag.
The red represents the blood of revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives to overthrow the Qing dynasty, the blue symbolizes liberty and nationalism, and the white sun with its 12 rays represents the 12 months of the year and the 12 traditional Chinese hours (shichen), symbolizing continuous progress.
What the colors & design mean
Red represents the blood of revolutionaries and the livelihood of the people. Blue symbolizes liberty, justice, and nationalism. The white sun represents democracy and the people's livelihood. The 12 rays represent the 12 months and the 12 traditional Chinese hours, symbolizing unceasing progress.
Pattern: Canton Design
Fun Facts
- The blue-sky-white-sun emblem was designed in 1895 by Lu Haodong, a revolutionary martyr executed by the Qing government, and it predates the founding of the Republic of China itself.
- This flag served as the national flag of all of China from 1928 to 1949, when the Nationalist government retreated to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists.
- The 12 rays of the sun represent the 12 two-hour periods of the traditional Chinese clock (shichen), with each ray symbolizing two hours of unceasing national progress.
- Taiwan's flag cannot be displayed at most international sporting events due to political pressure; instead, Taiwan competes as 'Chinese Taipei' under a different flag.
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