The National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China (), also unofficially known as the "National Banner Song", is a patriotic song typically played during the raising and lowering of the flag of the Republic of China. Domestically, the flag anthem is typically played immediately following the

National Anthem of the Republic of China The "Three Principles of the People" is the national anthem of the Republic of China as well as the party anthem of the Kuomintang. It was adopted in 1930 as China's national anthem and was used as such in mainland China until 1949, when the R ...

during flag ceremonies. It is also played at international sporting events such as the

World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Lea ...

and

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

, where Taiwan participates officially under the name of Chinese Taipei. The song is thus considered to be effectively a secondary

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

; Republic of China (Taiwan) nationals and other ROC supporters stand when it is performed and salute it as they would salute the national anthem.

Origin

After the

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

Anthem became the ''de facto''

in 1930, the Ministry of Education had invited submissions for a new official national anthem. The music composed by

Huang Tzu Huang Tzu (; 23 March 1904 - 9 May 1938), courtesy name Jinwu (), was a Chinese musician of the early 20th century.

was eventually chosen in 1936, but the Nationalist Government refused to adopt it as the national anthem. As a compromise, the

National Anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

remained unchanged, while Huang Tzu's music was adopted as the National Flag Anthem, with lyrics written in

Classical Chinese Classical Chinese, also known as Literary Chinese (古文 ''gǔwén'' "ancient text", or 文言 ''wényán'' "text speak", meaning "literary language/speech"; modern vernacular: 文言文 ''wényánwén'' "text speak text", meaning "literar ...

by Tai Chi-tao, who had also contributed to the lyrics of the

Use

Since 1983, the song (officially with different lyrics) was used at Olympic competitions instead of the

due to pressure from the

Chinese Olympic Committee The Chinese Olympic Committee (; IOC code: CHN) has been the officially designated body of the People's Republic of China (PRC) regarding the Olympic Games and other affiliated international sport federations since 1979, when the Nagoya Resol ...

and the International Olympic Committee. This also changed the symbols used by Taiwan during the Olympics and another sporting and another events and their name officially changed to "Chinese Taipei" (中華臺北). During the 2004 Summer Olympics, Chinese Taipei won its first

gold medals A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

, and the Banner Song was played at the ceremonial raising of the flag of the gold medal team. When introduced, the song is officially called the "National Anthem of Chinese Taipei." However, in the 16th Asian Games held in

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...

, China, the song was introduced as the "Anthem of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee" (中華臺北奧會會歌), with new lyrics written by Chang Pi-te (張彼德). In schools and national monuments in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, the National Anthem and the National Flag Anthem are played every morning before classes or opening at an outdoor ceremony. The national anthem is sung while the flag is being held before raising and the National Flag Anthem is played when the National Flag is raised. When the flag is lowered, only the National Flag Anthem is played. During the 2017 Summer Universiade held in Taipei, Taiwan, the song was introduced as the "National Anthem of Chinese Taipei."

Lyrics

Original

For use as Chinese Taipei in Olympic Events

Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee The Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee (; IOC code: TPE) is the National Olympic Committee representing the Republic of China (Taiwan). History The China National Amateur Athletic Federation () was established on 3 April 1922. Later that year, the ...

's Anthem share the same melody with the flag anthem, but with different lyrics wrote by Chang Pi-te. The lyrics was certified by IOC in 1983.

Dispute of the author of lyrics

According to Liu Yiling from the National Library of the Republic of China, there remains a dispute over the authorship of the lyrics. In some earlier publications, the lyrics were attributed as an anonymous work. However, later publications attributed it to Tai Chi-tao, who did compose a song with the title "National Flag Anthem" in 1928. Nevertheless, that work was very different from the current version. In 1929, Liang Desuo published "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth", and some attribute the authorship of the National Flag Anthem to him due to the resemblance between that work and the current lyrics.

References

External links

National Flag Anthem Orchestral Version
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China.
National Flag Anthem Chorus Version
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China.
National Flag Anthem of the Republic of China
{{Authority control Asian anthems National symbols of Taiwan Chinese patriotic songs Flag anthems National symbols of the Republic of China (1912–1949)