National Emblem of the People's Republic of China

National emblem of the Republic of China (1912–1927) and the Empire of China (1915–1916)

The Empire of China during the Manchu-led Qing dynasty did not have an official state emblem, but the flag featured the azure dragon on a plain yellow field with a red sun of the three-legged crow in the upper left corner. It became the first national flag of China and is usually referred to as the Yellow Dragon Flag.

Following the end of Manchu rule, new national symbols were deemed necessary by the leaders to represent the changed circumstances. The renowned writers Lu Xun, Qian Daosun, and Xu Shoushang from the Ministry of Education were tasked with designing a new national emblem. It was presented on August 28, 1912, and was adopted as national emblem in February 1913. President-Emperor Yuan Shikai continued its use during his short imperial reign from 1915 to 1916. The emblem is based on the ancient symbols of the Twelve Ornaments.[5] These are first mentioned as already ancient in the Book of Documents by Emperor Shun, who was one of the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Oral tradition holds that he lived sometime between 2294 and 2184 BC.[6] According to the book, the emperor wished for the symbols to be used on official robes of the state.

Blue Sky with a White Sun emblem of the Republic of China (1928–present)

The Northern Expedition led by General Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang party led to the overthrow of the fractious yet internationally recognized Beiyang government in 1928. This ushered in a one-party state under the Kuomintang known as the Nanjing decade. The state emblem was therefore replaced with the Kuomintang Blue Sky with a White Sun party symbol. The "Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth" flag has remained the flag of the Republic of China to this day. During this period, under the KMT's political tutelage, the Blue Sky with a White Sun Flag shared the same prominence as the ROC flag. A common wall display consisted of the KMT flag perched on the left and the ROC flag perched on the right, each tilted at an angle with a portrait of National Father Sun Yat-sen displayed in the center. After the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of China, the party flag was removed from such a display and the national flag was moved to the center.

Since the ROC government moved to Taiwan and especially in the years since the end of martial law the Kuominmtang flag has lost some of its prominence. However, it is still frequently seen on KMT party buildings in political rallies and other meetings of KMT and the pan-blue coalition.

Emblem of the Chinese Soviet Republic (1934–1937)

Emblem of CPPCC, designed by China Central Academy of Fine Arts, which their first round proposal was based on.

The first communist government in China known as the Chinese Soviet Republic had the emblem adopted in 1934. It consisted of an hammer and sickle on a globe, and the grain ears are placed under and on both sides of the earth. Above the earth and the five-pointed star is written the "Chinese Soviet Republic" on the top, and the "Workers of the world, unite!" written on the bottom.

On July 10, 1949, the government held a public competition for the design of the national emblem, however no satisfactory designs were selected. Therefore, on September 27, 1949, the First Plenary Session of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) decided to invite designers for the proposals of the national emblem and two groups from two universities were selected in September 1949. Three proposals were selected for the first round discussion:

• The designers from China Central Academy of Fine Arts, Zhang Ding, Zhang Guangyu, Zhou Lingzhao and Zhong Ling, handed out their proposals with 5 variations on September 25, 1949. The symbolism of their first design was: The red star symbolizes Communism and the CCP. The cog and wheat/rice symbolizes unification of industrial workers and peasants. The rising earth with China in red symbolizes the socialist revolution in China and the world revolution ideal on Asian counties. 31 rays behind the earth symbolizes the 31 provincial administrative divisions at that time. The name of the People's Republic of China is written on the red ribbon below.[7] The design was based on their design of the emblem of CPPCC, and was influenced by Socialist heraldry of the Eastern Bloc.
• The designers from the Department of Architecture at Tsinghua University, Liang Sicheng, Lin Huiyin, Mo Zongjiang, Zhu Changzhong, Li Zongjin and Gao Zhuang, handed their proposal on October 30, 1949. According to their proposal, the design was a mixture of traditional Chinese culture and Maoist New Democratic Revolution ideals. The design imitated the style of mirrors in Han dynasty, symbolizing brightness. The disc was made of jade, a symbol of peace and unity. Decorative carvings on the disc was in Tang dynasty style. The stars from national flag and a cog were placed in the center of the disc, surrounded by wheats, symbolizing unity of working class and socialism. The red ribbon tied a smaller jade ring, symbolising the unification of Chinese people.[8]
• The other proposal by Zhang Ding, Zhang Guangyu, Zhou Lingzhao, was a perspective depiction of Tian'anmen gate.

• First round proposals of the national emblem
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  Proposals of China Central Academy of Fine Arts, September 25, 1949
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  Proposal of Tsinghua University, October 30, 1949

Second round proposals by Tsinghua University

Members of the first CPPCC committee discussed these three proposals on June 10, 1950. The result of the discussion was, the China Central Academy of Fine Arts proposal was too colourful to be regarded as trademarks, and proposal from Tsinghua University was regarded as bourgeois due to its use of traditional symbols. The committee suggested the groups include the Tian'anmen Gate, a symbol of Chinese revolution that served as the location of the May Fourth Movement and foundation ceremony of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949.[9]

The two groups then worked on a second round of proposals. The second proposal from Tsinghua University standardized the design of the Tian'anmen Gate on the emblem and selected red and yellow as the main colours.[10] Their proposal was selected and the design was standardized and simplified by Gao Zhuang.[11] This design was officially made the national emblem on 20 September 1950 by the Central People's Government.

• Second round proposals of the national emblem
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  Proposal of China Central Academy of Fine Arts
  June 15, 1950
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  Proposal of China Central Academy of Fine Arts
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  Proposal of Tsinghua University
  June 17, 1950
• 
  Proposal of Tsinghua University
• 
  Proposal of Tsinghua University
• 
  Proposal of Tsinghua University
• 
  Proposal of Tsinghua University

The emblem is also displayed, along with the national flag, at the end of a video clip with the national anthem, March of the Volunteers, regularly played on Chinese television such as state-run China Central Television (CCTV) on a daily basis.

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  Fujian (1927–2019)
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  Taiwan (1945–2018)

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  Chengdu
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  Kunming (1922-1949)
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  Guangzhou (1926–1949)
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  Harbin
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  Qingdao

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  Hong Kong
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  Macau