Flag of Taiwan

What the flag means

The colours are tied to Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People: blue for nationalism and liberty, white for democracy and equality, red for the people's livelihood and fraternity. Sun Yat-sen added the red for the blood of revolutionaries. The twelve rays are the twelve months and the twelve traditional two-hour periods of the day.

History

Lu Haodong designed the blue canton, the Blue Sky with a White Sun, in 1895 for the Society for Regenerating China. Sun Yat-sen added the red field in 1906. The Nationalist government made it the national flag of the Republic of China on 17 December 1928, replacing the Five-Coloured Flag, and the 1947 constitution specifies it. It has been used in Taiwan since 25 October 1945.

At the Olympic Games the team competes as 'Chinese Taipei' under a separate flag with a plum blossom.

Earlier flags of Taiwan

1. 1912–1928Five-Coloured Flag (Five Races Under One Union)