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This is a list of current and historical flags used in the geographic area of 'China', including both the People's Republic of China (Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau) and the Republic of China.

Contents

National flags

Middle Areas

Southern Areas

Eastern Areas

The Islands Areas

Military flags

Non-state flags

Historical national flags

Other historical flags

National flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1949 –	Flag of the People's Republic of China	A red field, with a large yellow star at the canton, with four smaller stars to the right. This flag is flown in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
	1928 - 1949	Flag of the Republic of China	A red field, with a blue canton containing a 12-ray white sun. This flag is flown in Taiwan Province, and other islands under the control of the Taiwan authorities.
		Civil Ensign of the Republic of China	Four serrated yellow stripes are added to the flag of the Republic of China for use as a civil ensign at sea.

==Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China ==

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1997 –	Flag of Hong Kong	A white, five-petal Bauhinia blakeana on a red field
	1999 –	Flag of Macau	A lotus flower above a stylized bridge and water in white, beneath an arc of five gold, five-pointed stars on a green field

==Political divisions of the Taiwan Province, Republic of China==

Northern Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Taipei City
		Keelung City
		Hsinchu City
		Taipei County
		Taoyuan County
		Hsinchu County
		Miaoli County

Middle Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Taichung City
		Taichung County
		Changhua County
		Yunlin County
		Nantou County

Southern Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Kaohsiung City
		Chiayi City
		Tainan City
		Chiayi County
		Tainan County
		Kaohsiung County
		Pingtung County

Eastern Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Ilan County
		Hualien County
		Taitung County

The Islands Areas

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Penghu County
		Kinmen County
		Lienchiang County

Military flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
		Flag of the People's Liberation Army	A red field with a yellow star at the canton, and the Chinese numerals for "8" and "1", the date of the PLA's establishment
		Flag of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force	The PLA flag with a green stripe at the bottom.
		Ensign of the People's Liberation Army Navy	The PLA flag with 5 horizontal lines, 3 blue and 2 white at the bottom, representing the sea.
		Flag of the People's Liberation Army Air Force	The PLA flag with a blue stripe at the bottom.
		Flag of the Republic of China Army (formerly National Revolutionary Army)	The Blue Sky with a White Sun with a red border.
		Naval Jack of the Republic of China	Identical to the Kuomintang flag (see below).

Non-state flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1895 –	Kuomintang flag.	The "Blue Sky with a White Sun," 12 rays of the sun represent progressive ideals.
	1986 –	Democratic Progressive Party flag.
	1921 –	Flag of the Communist Party of China	Communist hammer and sickle
	1979 –	The Chinese Taipei's Olympic flag.	Taiwan Province is recognized as "Chinese Taipei" in the Olympics, due to the political status of Taiwan.

Historical national flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1862 – 1890	Flag of the Qing Empire	No standard specifications
	1890 – 1912	Flag of the Qing Empire	Replaced old triangular flag
	1912 – 1928	First flag of the Republic of China, or "Five Races Under One Union"	Used mainly in Shanghai and eastern parts of northern China until 1928. This flag was widely flown even before the founding of the Republic of China by Chinese on the eastern coast and garnered the greatest respect at the founding of the ROC. Stripes represent the five great races in China's history, according to Dr. Sun Yat-sen: red for Han Chinese, yellow to represent Manchus, blue as Mongols, white for both Huis and Uyghurs, and black for Tibetans.
	1916	Flags of Yuan Shikai's Empire of China.	These variations on the initial flag of the Republic of China emphasize Han administration over other ethnicities in China.
	Mainland: 1928 – 1949 Taiwan: 1945 –	Flag of the Republic of China	Used in the (Taiwan)Province. Not used in areas administrated by the People's Republic of China except in historical venues.
	1931 – 1934	Jiangxi Soviet republic flag	hammer and sickle along with Chinese characters for China Communist (Zhonggong, 中共) written in classical word order, i.e., read from the right.

Other historical flags

Flag	Duration	Use	Description
	1959 – 1997	Flag of the British colony of Hong Kong	A British Blue Ensign with the coat of arms of Hong Kong (1959 – 1997).
	1876 – 1959	Flag of the British colony of Hong Kong	A British Blue Ensign with the coat of arms of Hong Kong (1876 – 1959).
	1870 – 1876	Flag of the British colony of Hong Kong	A British Blue Ensign with a crowned "HK".
	1670 – 1999	Flag of Portugal, used in colonial era Macau	The Portuguese flag was used in colonial era Macau as there was no territorial flag. (Portuguese flag design changed during colonial administration; the version shown was that used in 1999.)
	1975 – 1999	Flag of the Municipality of Macau, one of two local municipal governments.	A light blue field charged with the coat of arms of Macau.
	till Dec 29, 1928	Flag of Fengtian clique.	Used by warlords till Chinese reunification (1928).
	1932 – 1945	Flag of Manchukuo	A yellow field with the first flag of the Republic of China (see above) in the canton.
	1920s – 1940s	Flag of Ma clique	Used by warlords
	1912 – 1950	Flag of Tibet	Symbols of Tibet devised by the Dalai Lama. Currently used by the Central Tibetan Administration, their government in exile.This flag is outlawed in mainland China.

Note that Hong Kong and Macau were handed over to the People's Republic of China in 1997 and 1999 respectively.