The flag of Weihaiwei was the flag used by the British leased territory of

Weihaiwei Weihai ( zh, t=, p=Wēihǎi), formerly Weihaiwei ( zh, s=, p=Wēihǎiwèi, l=Mighty Sea Fort, first=t), is a prefecture-level city and major seaport city in the easternmost Shandong province of China. It borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow ...

during British rule between 1903 and 1930. The flag consisted of a British

blue ensign The Blue Ensign is a British ensign that may be used on vessels by certain authorised yacht clubs, Royal Research Ships and British merchant vessels whose master holds a commission in the Royal Naval Reserve or has otherwise been issued a wa ...

with an emblem containing a pair of

Mandarin duck The mandarin duck (''Aix galericulata'') is a perching duck species native to the East Palearctic. It is Sexual dimorphism, sexually dimorphic – the males are elaborately coloured, while the females have more subdued colours. It is a medium- ...

History

In 1898, the

Empire of China Chinese Empire (), or Empire of China, refers to the realm ruled by the Emperor of China during the era of Imperial China. It was coined by western scholars to describe the Ming and Qing dynasties (or imperial Chinese dynasties in general). ...

leased the port of Weihaiwei () to the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

for 25 years. During the first few years, there was no individual flag for Weihaiwei. However, the Commissioners of Weihaiwei in Liu-kung Tao () used a

Union Jack The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags. It is sometimes a ...

combined with a badge of a Chinese

imperial dragon The Chinese dragon or loong is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture generally. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms, such as turtles and fish, but are most commonly depicted as snake-like wi ...

on a yellow background. In 1902, the new civil Commissioner for Weihaiwei James Stewart Lockhart wrote to the

Colonial Office The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America (particularly the Thirteen Colo ...

requesting a new flag for the territory as he felt that it was inappropriate to use a Chinese national symbol on a

British flag The national flag of the United Kingdom is the Union Jack, also known as the Union Flag. The design of the Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union 1801, which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in p ...

and suggested using Mandarin ducks instead. (The

Flag of the Qing dynasty The flag of the Qing dynasty was an emblem adopted in the late 19th century (1889) featuring the Azure Dragon on a plain yellow field with the red flaming pearl in the upper left corner. It became the first national flag of China and is usually re ...

at the time was a dragon on a yellow background). He wrote to them stating:

"The design of the flag hitherto used by the Commissioner of this Dependency is a dragon on the Union Jack and is in my opinion quite unsuitable. I have therefore to request that the Crown Agents may be instructed to have made for the use of the Commissioner two new flags, the device of the Mandarin Duck being substituted for the Dragon, which is as you are aware the national emblem of China and not appropriate in the case of a British Dependency".

Following the letter,

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...

approved the change of design of the flag for both the Commissioner's flag and the blue ensign in 1903. He also provided for the flag to be used for merchant shipping as the

merchant ensign A civil ensign is an Ensign (flag), ensign (maritime flag) used by civilian vessels to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from the state ensign and the naval ensign (or war ensign). It is also known as the merchant ensign or ...

. In 1930, when the lease did expire following negotiations with the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, it was the British flag that was lowered at the handover ceremony and not the flag of Weihaiwei.

Design

The flag was designed as a British blue ensign defaced with a badge of two Mandarin ducks. The ducks consist of a male in the foreground and a female in the background drinking from a stream while standing on a reed-covered bank. Mandarin ducks were chosen to replace the Chinese imperial dragon on the flag, in keeping with the British colonial tradition of using representative common local wildlife of a specific territory as the emblem on its colonial flag.

References

{{Union Flag

1903 establishments in the British Empire 1930 disestablishments in the British Empire 1930 disestablishments in China Weihaiwei under British rule