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# Republic of China (Taiwan)

## Taiwan, 中華民國, 臺灣

Last modified: 2026-05-09 by ian macdonald
Keywords: taiwan | sun |
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image by Zoltan Horvath, 5 November 2024
Proportions: 2:3
Usage Code:

- Explanation of the flag
- Construction Sheet
- Color Specifications
- Flagpole and finial

See also:

- Taiwan - Subdivisions (clickable map of Taiwan)
- Taiwan - National Emblem
- Civil and Merchant Ensign (1929-1966)
- History of the Chinese Republic flags
- Democratic Republic of Taiwan, 1895
- Historical Flags Under Japanese Control
- Supreme Commander Flag
- Presidential standard (1929-1986)
- High Government Officials' Flag 1929-
- Ministry of Defence
- Minister of Finance
- Inspector General of Customs
- Chinese Customs
- Taiwanese Customs flags
- Military flags
- Police Flags and Civil Defense
- National Fire Agency
- Postal Flags
- Olympic and Sporting flags
- Political flags
- China Youth Salvation Corps
- Presbyterian Church in Taiwan
- House flags of Taiwan shipping companies
- Flags of Taiwan airlines
- Taipei Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport Authority
- Red Swastika Society
- Red Cross Society of the Republic of China
- Educational Institute Flags
- Flag headband
- Taiwan's International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF)
- Protest flag
- Taiwan Gay flags
- Taiwan Aboriginal Peoples

- China

- China: Index of Pages

- Japanese Puppet States

- Nanjing Puppet State
- Beijing (Provisional Government of China) [1937-1940]

- Taiwanese territorial claims

- Spratly Islands
- Paracel Islands
- Scarborough Reef

- Flag dates: by country

Outside Links:

- Taiwan's 400 years of history
- Flags of Taiwan
- Fu Jen Catholic University (outside link)

Taiwan has retained several flags of the Chinese Republic in use prior to the establishment of the Republic of China in Taiwan: It's improper to say "establishment in" here, because Taiwan has been ruled under ROC since 1945, before 1949. It's better to say "retreat to". Besides, "Chinese Republic" usually is equivalent to "Republic of China" today, but officially, the former was the translation of Peking Government (or Beiyang Government) and the later is the translation of KMT Government since mid-1928. It's hardly to take the former to mean the period before the establishment of the People’s Republic of China and the later to mean only after Oct. 1, 1949.
Akira Oyo, 18 April 2014

## 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.

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

I have the 1919 and 1930 editions of Jane's Fighting Ships which show the naval and marine ensigns of the day. This flag of Taiwan is shown in both the 1919 and 1930 editions of Jane's Fighting Ships and is identified as the Chinese Naval Ensign.
Glen Robert-Grant Hodgins, 30 March 1998

Strictly speaking, the flag was first officially adopted in 1914 as the 'naval flag' (both afloat and ashore). It became the national flag in 1928, but remained the naval flag. It is still the official naval flag in Taiwan.
Miles Li, 02 February 1999

In a book titled: 'Republic of China: a reference book', published in 1983 by United Pacific International Inc. and sponsored by the Government Information Office of the Republic of China (Taiwan), there is a description of the symbolism of the colours in the national flag: 'The three colors of blue, white and crimson collectively signify the Three Principles of the People:
Blue - Liberty, justice and Min Chuan (Democracy)
White - Equality, brightness and Min Sheng (People's Livelihood)
Crimson - Fraternity, sacrifice and Min Tsu (Nationalism)'
Jose Manuel Erbez, 23 September 1999

The symbolism cited for the Taiwanese flag by Jose Manuel is correct. The "three principles of the people" represented by the white-twelve-pointed star (Equality, brightness and Min Sheng (People's Livelihood)), the blue canton (Liberty, justice and Min Chuan (Democracy)) and red field (Fraternity, sacrifice and Min Tsu (Nationalism)) were drafted by the Republic of China's founding father Dr Sun Yat-Sen. In a book called "Sun Yat-Sen's Revolution: a Pictorial History" some pictures of the original designs are depicted.
The design was primarily the political flag of the Tung Meng Hui Society (later, in 1912, the Kuo Ming Tang, KMT, Taiwan's ruling party) and, after the 1911 revolution and later, after the death of Yuan Shi Kai in 1916 (the Republic of China's second provisional president recommended by Dr. Sun; Yuan was to declare himself emperor) and the ongoing fighting between Chinese warlords during the 1920s, became the flag of the Republic. After the victory of the Chinese Communist forces over those of nationalist China, the Government fled to Taiwan island (Formosa) where it settled as an exile government. This government remained internationally recognized until the mid-seventies, when the UN admitted and recognized Beijing's (instead of Taipei's) government as the legitimate government of China. Although the RoC (Taiwan) continued to make claims over the Chinese mainland, it seems now that Taipei's government is seeking for the recognition of its independence as a State. So we might be looking forward to a change in the flag and the coat of arms (even though I see that as an unlikely possibility.
Guillermo Aveledo, 23 September 1999

The National Flag of the Republic (of China) under Articles 3, 4 aand 5 of Decree No. 47 of the National Government is dated 19 December 1928.
Christopher Southworth, 5 July 2005

## Construction Sheet

image by Željko Heimer

## Color Specifications

The Ministry of Interior gives CMYK suggestion for its colors:
https://www.moi.gov.tw/cp.aspx?n=10621
Zoltan Horvath, 5 November 2024

The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12]) provides recommendations for national flag designs. Each NOC was sent an image of the flag, including the PMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may not be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the NOC believed the flag to be.
For Chinese Taipei: PMS 2748 blue, 3005 blue, 485 red, 192 pink, 137 yellow, 355 green, 426 black. The vertical flag is simply the horizontal version turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012

The Flag Manual - Beijing 2008 doesn’t illustrate the flag of Taiwan, only Olympic flag of Chinese Taipei is depicted.
The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] (Corr. No. 4.) gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Blue: Pantone 301C, CMYK 100-45-0-10
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 0-90-75-5
Yellow: Pantone 123c, CMYK 0-30-95-0
Orange: Pantone 152c, CMYK 0-50-100-0
The Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12] doesn’t illustrate the flag of Taiwan, only Olympic flag of Chinese Taipei is depicted. For Taiwanese colors gives Pantone colors: PMS 2748 (dark blue), and PMS 485 (red)
The Album des Pavillons 2023 specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems:
Blue: Pantone 301c, CMYK 97-68-6-0, RGB 0-82-155
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 10-100-74-2, RGB 210-16-52
Orange: Pantone 152c, CMYK 4-66-100-0, RGB 231-111-0
Yellow: Pantone 123c, CMYK 0-24-88-0, RGB 255-199-38
Green: Pantone 369c, CMYK 71-6-100-0, RGB 79-166-0
Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone system: PMS 2347C (red), PMS 2728C (blue), and PMS White.
Wikipedia illustrates the flag, and construction details, and gives color values as follows:
Blue: RGB 0-41-204, Hex #0029CC, CMYK 100-80-0-20, Pantone2728 C
Red: RGB 242-0-0, Hex #F20000, CMYK 0-100-100-5*, Pantone 2347 C
White: RGB 255-255-255, Hex #FFFFFF, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone White
* The Ministry of Interior suggestion for CMYK value for red color is 0-100-100-5~10
Flag Color Codes gives the following color values:
Red: Hex #FE0000, RGB 254-0-0, CMYK 0-100-100-0, Pantone 2347 C, RAL 3026
Blue: Hex #000095, RGB 0-0-149, CMYK 100-100-0-42, Pantone 2738 C, RAL 5002
White: Hex FFFFFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone N/A, RAL N/A
Zoltan Horvath, 5 November 2024

## Flagpole and finial

The Republic of China (ROC) National Flag and Emblem Act of 1928 did not mention the colour of the flagpole (other than a red ball finial, which understandably was almost universally ignored), but the ROC National Flag and Emblem Act of 1954 did specify a white flagpole with golden-yellow ball finial.
The President's flag has white pole and golden-yellow spearhead finial, whereas all other military flags have red pole and silver-white spearhead finial.
Miles Li, 11 August 2008