Topic summary
Flag of the Republic of China
The flag of the Republic of China, commonly called the flag of Taiwan, consists of a red field with a blue canton bearing a white disk surrounded by twelve triangles; said symbols symbolize the sun and rays of light emanating from it, respectively.
The flag was originally designed by the anti-Qing group, the Revive China Society, in 1895 with the addition of the red field component in 1906 by Sun Yat-sen in his speech. This was first used in mainland China as the Navy flag in 1912, and was made the official national flag of the Republic of China in 1928 by the Nationalist government and was also used by the Japanese-backed Chinese Republic from 1943. It was enshrined in the sixth article of the ROC constitution when it was promulgated in 1947.
The flag is no longer used in mainland China due to the ROC defeat in the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, the ROC national flag has since remained in official use within the Taiwan Area. The PRC regards the flag as historical object of a former regime, and thus it allows its limited public display in historical museums and war cemeteries across mainland China, but its use otherwise remains largely contentious and widely restricted due to the One China Principle and its history as a symbol of opposition to the Chinese Communist Party.
In Taiwan, many Taiwan independence supporters reject the flag due to its association with Chinese nationalism and as a statement of opposition against the Kuomintang. The Democratic Progressive Party, while advocating Taiwanese nationalism, generally takes a moderate position towards the current flag in use, and largely supports its display in diplomatic occasions against blockade of the PRC.