Flag of the People's Liberation Army

The flag of the Chinese People's Liberation Army is the war flag of the People's Liberation Army; the layout of the flag has a golden star at the top left corner and two Chinese characters "八一" to the right of the star, placed on a red field. The characters "八一" (literally "eight one") are a reference to the events of August 1, 1927 (8th month, 1st day, also known as 8月1日); when the PLA was created by the Chinese Communist Party at the start of their rebellion in Nanchang against the Nationalist government.[1]

Chinese People's Liberation Army
UseWar flag and naval jack Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flagSmall vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flagReverse side is mirror image of obverse side
Proportion4:5
Adopted15 June 1949
DesignA Chinese red field with a yellow star at the canton, and the Chinese numerals for "8" and "1", the date of the PLA's establishment on August 1, 1927.
PLA flag during Nixon's visit to China

History

edit

Based on a decree issued from Mao Zedong, the main flag of the PLA was created on 15 June 1949.[2]

Design

edit

The flag has a ratio of 5 by 4, which has a white sleeve measuring 116 of the flag's length. For ceremonies, a PLA flag with golden fringe is placed on a pole with gold and red spiral stripes and topped with a golden finial and red tassel.[3] Each branch of the PLA, the Ground Forces, Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force, also have their own individual flags. In a 1992 order, the flags of the three branches were defined: the top 58 of the flags is the same as the PLA flag; the bottom 38 are occupied by the colors of the branches.[4] The flag of the Ground Forces has a forest green bar at the bottom, the naval ensign has stripes of blue and white at the bottom, the Air Force uses a sky blue bar at the bottom, the Rocket Force uses a yellow bar at the bottom. The forest green represents the earth, the blue and white stripes represent the seas, the sky blue represents the air, the yellow represents the flare of missile launching.[5][6]

On 10 January 2018, the People's Armed Police received a new flag following the design of the branch flags with three olive stripes at the bottom. The three olive stripes represents the People's Armed Police responsible for the three main tasks and force composition of maintaining national political security and social stability, maritime rights protection and law enforcement, and defense operations.[7]

 
The flag during the 70th anniversary of the PRC
edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Wu, Fei (2009-10-01). "Military Parade Marks Anniversary". China Daily. Xinhua. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  2. ^ "Flag of the People's Liberation Army" (in Chinese). Yibin Shuangyong Information Network. 2009-01-11. Archived from the original on 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  3. ^ "Central Military Commission Provisions On The Military Flag" (in Chinese). 1978-06-17. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  4. ^ "81 Flag and Other Signs" (in Chinese). Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  5. ^ "Flag, Emblem and Song of the People's Liberation Army". Xinhua (in Chinese). 2004-06-23. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  6. ^ "Uniform of Rocket Force". People's Daily (in Chinese). 2016-07-01. Retrieved 2016-07-06.
  7. ^ "国防部新闻发言人吴谦就武警部队旗寓意答问". Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China. 2018-01-10. Archived from the original on 2020-10-04. Retrieved 2018-01-10.