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Taiwan has been under the rule of many empires – the Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese. Throughout the antiquity era, Taiwan was considered beyond the influence of Chinese civilization. The Chinese elites of the time felt the island was the habitation of savages who were unwilling to adopt Chinese ways of life. Imperial China had no interest in colonizing Taiwan. However, years of early Chinese settlement in the territory, along with a series of political upheaval, gave Taiwan a Chinese identity. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, a nationalist leader, is recognized as the founding father of Modern China and Taiwan. He is the one who revived the Kuomintang in 1914. He worked towards the reunification of China through military use and the establishment of a tutelage period. After his death in 1925, his deputy Chiang Kai-shek took up leadership of the KMT. One of Chiang’s missions was to regain Taiwan from Japanese rule. The US government and the UK supported this mission in the 1943 Cairo Declaration, which was endorsed by Chiang. However, the five decades of Japanese occupation had tarnished the island’s identity as part of China.
The flag of Taiwan is referred to as the “blue sky, white sun, wholly red earth.” The white color of the sun symbolizes equality and democracy, whereas the blue symbolizes liberty and nationalism. The three colors (red, white, and blue) represent the three core principles of the country. The blue is a symbol of justice, democracy, and liberty. White is democracy and equality—the brightness of the livelihood of the people. Lastly, the red is a symbol of fraternity, nationalism, and sacrifice.
The flag consists of a red background with a blue square located at the top left corner at the canton. In the blue square, there is the white sun with twelve triangles acting as rays of the sun. The twelve rays represent the 12 months of the Chinese calendar. The rays also serve as the traditional “shichen” time format that corresponds to two modern hours. The red field symbolizes the blood of the revolutionaries who fought against the Qing dynasty. This red is rooted in Chinese culture and also represents the livelihood and fraternity of the people.
The Taiwanese people were reluctant to embrace patriotism to China. Similarly, mainlanders of China did not trust the islanders due to the long Japanese occupation. Even when the island was part of the Chinese empire before the Japanese invasion, the mainlanders considered the Taiwanese as semi-feral Chinese. Taiwan had developed an identity different from the mainland. Their flag is a symbol of this rich, complex history. This flag does not deny the island’s Chinese past. On the other hand, the flag is also a sign of a different destiny for the island’s people. It is a symbol of the future, a future in which Taiwan becomes a fully recognized sovereign nation.
To the Chinese mainlanders, the flag of Taiwan is the flag of the Republic of China. In 1912, the flag was mainland China’s navy flag. In 1928, the flag became the official flag of the KMT. Lu Hao Tung designed the flag’s blue cantor in 1895. This design is a representation of the revolutionary army of China. In 1906, Sun Yat-Sen requested a modification of the flag by placing the blue cantor on a red background. The flag was once the national flag of mainland China until the KMT government was exiled to Taiwan.
The Taiwan flag was officially adopted in October 1928. The flag was the brainchild of the Kuomintang (KMT) Chinese Nationalist party that existed in Mainland China in 1917. The KMT, under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek, relocated to Taiwan after their defeat in 1949. Chiang continued his rule as the President of the Republic of China and the general of the political party until he died in 1975. It was during this period of exile that the KMT’s flag became the flag of Taiwan.
The flag of Taiwan is a symbol of patriotism. The flag constitutes a coat of arms, which is a white sun on a blue field. The coat of arms appears at the top right corner on a red field. Unknown to many, the flag of Taiwan has a rich cultural and historical meaning. For starters, Taiwan is a stateless nation. This territory is at the center of a political disagreement between the citizens of Taiwan and mainland China. To the Chinese, Taiwan is an extension of the People’s Republic of China (modern China). Taiwan is therefore recognized as being part of the Republic of China. The issue remains whether Taiwan and other islands, which include Matsu and Penghu, should be officially recognized as territories of China or as separate government entities. This controversy in part explains the color contrast in the flag.
The construction measurements of the flag are recorded in the “Law About the National Flag and the Emblem of the Republic of China.” One-fourth of the flag is blue, with a 2:3 ratio of the width and the length. The sun’s diameter, including the rays, is 6/8 of the height of the blue section. The diameter of the sun minus the rays is ¼th the canton’s width. The blue ring above the white sun between the rays is 1/15th the sun’s diameter. The angle of the rays is 30 degrees. Therefore, the twelve rays make up 360 degrees.
