Flag of Japan

Name

Japan

Nickname

Nisshōki Japan is often referred to as "the land of the rising sun". In the 12th-century work, The Tale of the Heike, it was written that different samurai carried drawings of the sun on their fans. Another possible reason for the use of the sun was that the Japanese warrior wanted simple and elegant designs to reflect the well mannered and cultured status of the samurai. One legend related to the national flag is attributed to the Buddhist priest Nichiren. Supposedly, during a 13th-century Mongolian invasion of Japan, Nichiren gave a sun banner to the shogun to carry into battle. The sun is also closely related to the Imperial family, as legend states the imperial throne was descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu.

Imperial flags

Starting in 1870, flags were created for the Japanese Emperor (then Emperor Meiji), the Empress, and for other members of the imperial family. At first, the emperor's flag was ornate, with a sun resting in the center of an artistic pattern. He had flags that were used on land, at sea, and when he was in a carriage. The imperial family was also granted flags to be used at sea and while on land (one for use on foot and one carriage flag). The carriage flags were a monocolored chrysanthemum, with 16 petals, placed in the center of a monocolored background.

The current emperor's flag is a 16-petal chrysanthemum, colored in gold, centered on a red background with a 2:3 ratio. The Empress uses the same flag, except the shape is that of a swallow tail. The crown prince and the crown princess use the same flags, except with a smaller chrysanthemum and a white border in the middle of the flags. The chrysanthemum has been associated with the Imperial throne since the rule of Emperor Go-Toba in the 12th century, but it did not become the exclusive symbol of the Imperial throne until 1868. There are several prefecture flags, such as Hiroshima's, that match their specifications to the national flag (2:3 ratio, mon placed in the center and is 3/5 the length of the flag). Some of the mon display the name of the prefecture in Japanese characters; others are stylized depictions of the location or another special feature of the prefecture. An example of a prefectural flag is that of Nagano, where the orange katakana character ナ (na) appears in the center of a white disc. One interpretation of the mon is that the na symbol represents a mountain and the white disc, a lake. The orange color represents the sun while the white color represents the snow of the region.

Municipalities can also adopt flags of their own. The designs of the city flags are similar to the prefectural flags: a mon on a monocolored background. An example is the flag of Amakusa in Kumamoto Prefecture: the city symbol is composed of the Katakana character ア (a) and surrounded by waves. This symbol is centered on a white flag, with a ratio of 1:1.5. Both the city emblem and the flag were adopted in 2006.

Two recently designed national flags resemble the Japanese flag. In 1971, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan, and it adopted a national flag that had a green background, charged with an off-centered red disc that contained a golden map of Bangladesh. The current flag, adopted in 1972, dropped the golden map and kept everything else. The Government of Bangladesh officially calls the red disc a circle; the red color symbolizes the blood that was shed to create their country. The island nation of Palau uses a flag of similar design, but the color scheme is completely different. While the Government of Palau does not cite the Japanese flag as an influence on their national flag, Japan did administer Palau from 1914 until 1944. The flag of Palau is an off-centered golden-yellow full moon on a sky blue background. The moon stands for peace and a young nation while the blue background represents Palau's transition to self government from 1981 to 1994, when it achieved full independence.

The Japanese naval ensign also influenced other flag designs. One such flag design is used by the Asahi Shimbun. At the bottom hoist of the flag, one quarter of the sun is displayed. The kanji character 朝 is displayed on the flag, colored white, covering most of the sun. The rays extend from the sun, occurring in a red and white alternating order, culminating in 13 total stripes. The flag is commonly seen at the National High School Baseball Championship, as the Asahi Shimbun is a main sponsor of the tournament. The rank flags and ensigns of the Imperial Japanese Navy also based their designs off of the naval ensign.

See also

List of Japanese flags

Nobori

Sashimono

Uma-jirushi

References

Notes

===Bibliography=== }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} |title=陸軍と海軍|trans_title=Army and Navy|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=WTQuAAAAYAAJ&pg;=PT76&dq;=%E5%A4%A9%E7%9A%87%E6%97%97&lr;=&as;_brr=3&cd;=1#v=onepage&q;=%E5%A4%A9%E7%9A%87%E6%97%97&f;=false|ref=}} }} }} }} }} }} }} |title=記者四十年|trans_title=Fourteen Years As A Reporter|publisher=Asahi Shimbun Publishing|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=vvIuAAAAMAAJ&q;=%E6%9C%9D%E6%97%A5%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E%E3%80%80%E7%A4%BE%E6%97%97&dq;=%E6%9C%9D%E6%97%A5%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E%E3%80%80%E7%A4%BE%E6%97%97&lr;=&client;=firefox-a&cd;=36|isbn=978-4-02-260421-7|ref=}} }} }} |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=unkuAAAAYAAJ&pg;=PT7&dq;=%E5%A4%A9%E7%9A%87%E6%97%97&lr;=&as;_brr=3&cd;=3#v=onepage&q;=%E5%A4%A9%E7%9A%87%E6%97%97&f;=false|ref=}} |publisher=Gifu Shimbun|isbn=4-87797-054-1|ref=}} }} |publisher=Kodansha|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mF66AAAAIAAJ&q;=%E6%9C%9D%E6%97%A5%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E%E3%80%80%E7%A4%BE%E6%97%97&dq;=%E6%9C%9D%E6%97%A5%E6%96%B0%E8%81%9E%E3%80%80%E7%A4%BE%E6%97%97&lr;=&client;=firefox-a&cd;=66|isbn=4-06-212592-7|ref=}} }} }} }} |publisher=Otsuki Shoten|year=1988|isbn=4-272-41032-6|ref=}}

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External links

Japanese

Flag protocol

Website on the standards of the Imperial family

Japan Category:National symbols of Japan Category:Empire of Japan Category:Postwar Japan