China

Last modified: 1997-12-02 by rob raeside
Keywords: china |
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by Mark Sensen

According to Carol P. Shaw in the book Flags (Running Press), the red of the flag is the traditional color of revolution; the large gold star represents "the Common Program of the Communist Party"; and the smaller gold stars represent the four classes united by the common program: the workers, the peasants, the petty bourgeois, and capitalists sympathetic to the Party.

Bruce Tindall, 1996-04-09

• The People's Liberation Army
• The Dragon flag

See also:

• Tibet
• Early 20th century Chinese flags
• Weihaiwei

• Other regional early 20th century flags:

• Manchuria 1934-1945
• Inner Mongolia 1936-
• Mongolian Federated Autonomous Government
• Uighuristan 1933-1934 (Uyghur)
• Eastern Turkestan, 1930's

The People's Liberation Army

by Carsten Linke

The flag of the armed forces of the People's Republic of China (the People's Liberation Army) is red with a golden star in the upper hoist, but the star is smaller than on the national flag. Next to the star are three small lines, the Chinese numerals for "8" and "1", which stand for "August 1", to commemorate the establishment of the PLA in 1928, after the Nanchang Uprising (Crampton, The World of Flags, 1990, p.28). W. Smith adds that the star represents the victories of the Army in the fight against foreign imperial forces and unification of the land. The Chinese armed forces all come under the PLA and there is no separate navy flag.
Roy Stilling, 1996-06-24