At One Place

The flag of China

The flag of China
A red field with one large yellow five-pointed star in the upper hoist and an arc of four smaller yellow stars to its right.
Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1949
China

Field and colours only. Not shown: one large and four small gold stars in the top hoist corner.

The four small stars are not simply arranged in an arc — each one is rotated so that one of its points aims directly at the centre of the large star, which is why reproductions that keep all five stars upright look subtly wrong. The design was chosen from more than 2,900 public submissions in 1949; the winning entry, by Zeng Liansong, originally had a hammer and sickle inside the large star, removed to avoid looking like a copy of the Soviet flag. The 2:3 ratio and the exact star geometry are set out in the national standard GB 12982. Colloquially the flag is the Wǔxīng Hóngqí, the "five-starred red flag".

What the colours mean

  • Red #EE1C25 Revolution
  • Yellow #FFFF00 The colour of the stars; traditionally associated with the Chinese people

Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.

The symbols on it

What What it stands for
Large star The Communist Party
Four small stars The four social classes of the 1949 united front
Ratio
2:3
Current design adopted
1949
Colours
red, yellow

Common questions

What does the flag of China look like?
A red field with one large yellow five-pointed star in the upper hoist and an arc of four smaller yellow stars to its right.
What do the colours of the China flag mean?
Red: revolution. Yellow: the colour of the stars; traditionally associated with the Chinese people.
When was the China flag adopted?
The current design dates from 1949, and its official ratio is 2:3.

Related pages

Sources

  1. Official vendor product documentation — At One Place

How these figures are compiled and checked