Qing Empire
National flag: presented by Li Hongzhang, originally a navy flag, was decided by Empress Dowager Cixi.
The national flag is a national flag. Although there were various flags in ancient China, there was no national flag. 1840 After the Opium War, with the invasion of western powers, the Qing dynasty, which was originally closed to the outside world, had more and more contacts with western powers. In his diplomatic activities such as negotiating, signing contracts, trading and exchanging diplomats with western powers, Li Hongzhang saw that western countries solemnly hung their national flags, but China had no flags to hang, and he was deeply humbled by the "prestige of China". So I played Empress Dowager Cixi, put forward the need to have a flag representing the Great Qing Dynasty in diplomatic occasions, and requested to issue a national flag. Cixi asked Li Hongzhang to design the pattern. After collecting and screening by many parties, Li Hongzhang presented various schemes such as Bagua Flag, Huanglong Flag, Qilin Flag and Tiger Leopard Flag for Empress Dowager Cixi to choose, and finally decided to use Huanglong Flag (blue dragon with yellow background grabbing red pearl) as the flag of the Great Qing Dynasty. Huanglong Banner was originally the official flag of the General Taxation Department of the Customs, then it was used as a navy flag when the navy was founded, and then it was used as a national flag. It was the first national flag of China. The meaning is: the dragon is the supreme sacred thing, symbolizing the emperor. According to the five elements, the center belongs to the soil, and the soil is yellow, which is also the color of Manchu.
1862 (the first year of Tongzhi) 10/7, the Qing court approved the flag scheme of the Premier's government office for national affairs: all naval vessels and ships were flying the triangular yellow dragon flag, with the dragon flag as the official flag of China.
187214 October, the premier's foreign affairs office reiterated: the main flag often hung on the masts of China ships is a triangular dragon flag; The flag is made of yellow feather yarn, the dragon body is made of blue feather yarn, and the faucet is up. It is also required that all flags be replaced on 1 1 month 1 day. This time, clear and specific requirements were put forward for the texture and pattern of the national flag; At the same time, it is stipulated that all China ships must replace the old flag with a unified flag on time. 1February 3, Shanghai's "Shen Bao" contained: "The Beijing Premier's yamen sent a note to western officials, saying that China's new flag was triangular in shape, with yellow in color, dragon in Chinese and blue in color ...
188 1 year (the seventh year of Guangxu), after the two cruisers "Yangwei" and "Chaoyong" ordered in Britain returned to China, because the triangular flags were different from those on warships in western countries, in order to be in line with international standards, Li Hongzhang, governor of Zhili and Beiyang Minister who was fully engaged in the management of Beiyang Navy, formulated the texture and chapter color of the flag of Beiyang Navy with the approval of the Qing court.
1In September, 888, the Constitution of Beiyang Navy was finalized and played (the Constitution made it clear that the Qing national flag was rectangular), which was approved by Empress Dowager Cixi.
1in March, 889, Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, asked the good post bureau to draw the national flag in accordance with the new regulations: the flag of the warship was changed to a rectangle, yellow, with a blue dragon embedded in it. In May, Zhang Yinhuan, the American Secretary of State, invited us to take the rectangular dragon flag as the national flag and the oblique dragon flag as the commercial flag according to the Constitution of Beiyang Navy. That year, the new style of national flag was officially put into use.
From 1862 to 1889, it will take nearly 30 years for the first national flag of China in modern times to take shape.
1862.10.17-1889.5 flag of the Qing empire