[Emperor]

I think the ROC flag is more beautiful.

[losenge]

Yun, on May 21 2005, 03:41 AM, said:

Some say the five stars stand for ethnic groups, others say they stand for four classes and one Communist Party. I think the latter is true. Anyone want to confirm this using an official source?

My friend went to school for a bit in China and he was told it stands for the worker groups (not exactly classes): farmer, industrial worker, I forget. That's more representative of the communist mantra; communists actually stressed ethnic and gender equality.

Ethnic groups doesn't really make sense because there aren't 4-5 groups that stand out among the others. Doing so would also appear to marginalize the groups that are not included.

[lobster]

The ROC is more beautiful in terms of meaning and arts. It's also neutral in terms of ideology and ethnicity.

[Mei Houwang]

Quote

Ethnic groups doesn't really make sense because there aren't 4-5 groups that stand out among the others. Doing so would also appear to marginalize the groups that are not included.

It's the five main ones.

[kaixin]

I wonder what is the penalty if you hold a ROC flag in the streets of mainland China today? Cuz, I saw many of them hold it when Lien Chan visited recently.

There was this guy who joked that if China and Taiwan reunifies, a new flag should be made. He said the white sun in the ROC flag should become yellow.

My language teacher in Chinatown (used to be a KMT judge in Guangzhou), used to tell us that flags and national anthems are just visionary images. What's more important is that we take the 3 People's Principles to heart and yearn for a better and stronger China. That is something that will withstand time and remain forever.

Still, I have to say the ROC flag is more visually appealing.

[lobster]

I think you may have more problems if you hold a PRC flag on ROC streets.

Residents of Tiu Keng Ling, HK, most of them KMT refugees, still put on ROC flags.

[Klamath]

SniperWZ, on May 21 2005, 02:11 PM, said:

Why don't we combine several elements, use the Imperial Dragon from the Qing flag and use both the White Sun and Yellow Stars. My icon is the proposal. Or we can make it yellow background...

I have to say, your icon is not so good which just simply take elements of two flags combined, the colors are not in harmony. Blue and Red should not just be assicated without any gradual neutral color.
I see a dragon on it, if there is , it would not be popular for it would be hard for handdrawing.
Even without political agenda, I prefer PRC flag more, maybe it is that I saw it growing up , and it is easy to be distinguished from the other 183 countries' flags.

[yehzhaofeng]

This is a quote from the New York Consulate of the PR of China and other 'official' websites. "The national flag of the People's Republic of China is red in colour, rectangular in shape, with five stars. The proportion between the length and height of the flag is three to two. The five five-pointed yellow stars are located in the upper left corner. One of them, which is bigger, appears on the left, while the other four hem it in on the right.

The red colour of the flag symbolizes revolution; the stars take on the yellow colour in order to bring out their brightness on the red ground. The larger star represents the CPC, while the four smaller ones, the Chinese people. The relationship between the stars means the great unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC.

The national emblem of the People's Republic of China is Tiananmen in the centre illuminated by five stars and encircled by ears of grain and a cogwheel. The ears of grain, stars, Tiananmen and cogwheel are painted golden, and the inner part of the circle and hanging ribbons are painted red because these two colours are traditional Chinese colours representing auspiciousness and happiness.

Tiananmen symbolizes the unyielding national spirit of the Chinese people in their fight against imperialism and feudalism; the ears of grain and cogwheel represent the working class and the peasantry; and the five stars stand for the great unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the CPC."

About 6 years ago, we had a delegation of engineering students visit us (a chemical plant). I brought my small hand flag of the PRC and put it on the luncheon table with the American Flag. I was very surprised at the very strong reaction to seeing their national flag, and the young visitors were almost in tears when they spotted their flag (homesick after 2 weeks). I asked the "chaperone" - they were all female - about the symbolism of the flag, and she gave the political party interpertation, not the usual one cited "peasants, workers, bourgeoisie, and capitalists"
Jerry Lorigan, 17 August 1999


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A different interpretation is that the bigger star stands for the Han (Chinese Chinese) and the others for Manchus, (inner) Mongolians, Tibetans and Uyghurs, just like the previous stripped flag -- but I guess that this is out of fashion these days ;-)

The official interpretation, referring the bigger star as the party and the smaller simply the "Chinese people", not referring specifically any meaning for each of them is vague enough to fit any of the earlier explanations.
Ant髇io Martins, 17 August 1999




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The five-star red flag - The national flag of The People's Republic of China (Beijing: Morning Glory Publishers, 1997), gives this interpretation of its symbolism:

The national flag of the People's Republic of China is the five-star red flag. The red color of the flag is the symbol of the revolution, signifying that the political power of the People's Republic of China is achieved through bloodshed and lives laid down by countless revolutionary martyrs who marched forward wave upon wave in the heroic struggles for the revolution. In the upper-left corner of the flag there are five-pointed yellow stars, of which the big one represents the Communist Party of China and the four small ones the people of all ethnic groups of the country. One point of the big star points right up the flag and of the four small ones each has a point pointing towards the centre of the big star. This shows that the Chinese Communist Party is the force at the core of the leadership of the Chinese people of all ethnic groups who unite closely as one round the Party. With the color of the stars in yellow this means the great cause of socialism has a bright future. With the flag-staff painted white, that is to suggest flawless purity and loftiness."

This explanation differs from the interpretation of the large star as representing the Communist party and the smaller stars as representing the four classes.
Jan Oskar Engene, 10 November 1999

http://www.crwflags....w/flags/cn.html







Explanation of the flag
The red in the flag represents the land of China itself, with reference to the Han race which is the dominant race among the many races of China. The white sun symbolizes the spirit of progress as the twelve points represent the twelve hours of the day (a traditional Chinese hour = two conventional hours), and the sun on a blue field is the party flag of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) which ruled Taiwan until 2000. This flag was first used in 1928.
Xuess Wee York Ting, 25 September 1996
Editorial Note: The above has been corrected to reflect the current political situation.


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Mr. Hou-tung Lu designed the basics of the national flag of Taiwan (the blue sky, white sun). Later the red field was added by Dr. Sun Yat-sen to become the national flag.
Michael Wang, 13 May 1997

http://www.crwflags....ags/tw.html#exp



The stars on that avatar, in my opinion should be facing South.

[Yang Zongbao]

ROC flag.

I just think that the 'Blue Sky, white sun, and crimson stained ground' are so inspirational....never forget those who died to give a better tomorrow.

[JoeBlack]

SniperWZ, on May 21 2005, 01:11 PM, said:

Why don't we combine several elements, use the Imperial Dragon from the Qing flag and use both the White Sun and Yellow Stars. My icon is the proposal. Or we can make it yellow background...

Imperial Dragon is a symbol of emperor. It is a symbol of feudal system. It is what Dr. Sun and those who fought for the republic against. The dragon symbol is also too hard to draw. A flag should be simple, elegant and with deep meaning.

Between ROC and PRC flag, I like ROC flag more. The ROC flag is designed to commemorate those who died for the revolution. Those people sacrificed their lives to bring the sun under the blue sky. Comparing to ROC’s flag, PRC flag has the red part covering up what was the sky. The sun was gone and was replaced with stars. It makes me feel like the revolution has gone over extreme that the sky is now filled with blood. The revolution has brought in nightfall with star (nightfall is not positive) instead of sun (sun is more positive). And the only thing left in the fighting is the communist party who control over the other four stars (4 ethnicities of China).

I think PRC flag does stand for what the communist revolution is about. I think it brought an ill omen to China. It does not represent a positive image.

[USC]

JoeBlack, on May 21 2005, 11:43 PM, said:

Imperial Dragon is a symbol of emperor.  It is a symbol of feudal system.  It is what Dr. Sun and those who fought for the republic against.  The dragon symbol is also too hard to draw.  A flag should be simple, elegant and with deep meaning.

Between ROC and PRC flag, I like ROC flag more.  The ROC flag is designed to commemorate those who died for the revolution.  Those people sacrificed their lives to bring the sun under the blue sky.  Comparing to ROC’s flag, PRC flag has the red part covering up what was the sky.  The sun was gone and was replaced with stars.  It makes me feel like the revolution has gone over extreme that the sky is now filled with blood.  The revolution has brought in nightfall with star (nightfall is not positive) instead of sun (sun is more positive).  And the only thing left in the fighting is the communist party who control over the other four stars (4 ethnicities of China).

I think PRC flag does stand for what the communist revolution is about.  I think it brought an ill omen to China.  It does not represent a positive image.

agreed with you. the Sun do have a brighter tomorrow after cloudy and rainy
day.... the PRC red symbolizes Chinese-like, but it's more of revolutionary thinking and
full of blood....those are the bygone and bad image of CCP.

Dragon not necessary symbolize Imperial power. it can be a good auspicious
animal like Kirin.

BTW, it was Vietnam using the same design like China. Vietnam is a small brother
of China. They hate Chinese

USC

[temujin77]

I prefer the ROC, I think it looks nicer, but of course I grew up in Taiwan so it may just be what I am used to. I sure have to say that "blue sky, white sun, and the crimson ground" is much more inspirational, reminds us of all the revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives to bring us our democracy today.

[USC]

temujin77, on May 22 2005, 01:26 PM, said:

I prefer the ROC, I think it looks nicer, but of course I grew up in Taiwan so it may just be what I am used to.  I sure have to say that "blue sky, white sun, and the crimson ground" is much more inspirational, reminds us of all the revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives to bring us our democracy today.

haha Chen sui-bian the martyr and sacrifice of Taiwan "democracy" self directed assasination attempt??.
just a joke

[temujin77]

USC, on May 22 2005, 07:38 PM, said:

haha Chen sui-bian the martyr and sacrifice of Taiwan "democracy" self directed assasination attempt??.  
just a joke

Haha that is a good one. I'm not a fan of Chen myself

[Du Hongyi]

Quote

Used by the Yuan Shikai and Beiyang warlord governments. Can someone provide an authoritative explanation of which ethnicity each of the 5 colours represents?

Red = Han
Yellow = Manchu
Blue = Mongol
White = Hui
Black = Tibetan