Vivacious Vexillology: 1. The Qing Dynasty
Here is the inaugural blogpost for a series on various flags throughout history! My interest in vexillology is damn near obsessive but I hope y'all will find this brief dive into the history and symbols of interesting flags! To start off, an iconic and frankly gorgeous flag, that of the Qing Dynasty:
The Eight Banners
Prior to the conception of any official flags, the Eight Banners were a form of administrative and military divisions employed during the early days of the Qing dynasty, represented by eight banners of different colours and borders.
The banners began as a way of organising and unifying the disparate Jurchen tribes (a people from northeastern China who would eventually be known as the Manchus), but would grow into a formidable fighting force, gradually allowing the Qing to gain more and more control over China which culminate in the complete overthrow of the Ming dynasty in 1863. Machu clans were associated with the Banners based on their power and influence within the early Qing state (also referred to as the Later Jin)
The banners were Blue, Red, White, and Yellow, and were also distinguished by their border. They were further subdivided into Upper and Lower banners (3 upper, 5 lower), with the Upper banners being composed of the more influential and powerful clans within Manchu society. The Upper banners were nominally under direct command of the emperor and the Lower Banners were commanded by nobles from the clans.
The Three Upper Banners: Plain Yellow, Bordered Yellow, and Plain White
The Five Lower Banners: Bordered Red, Plain Red, Bordered White, Plain Blue, and Bordered Blue.
The first official flag of the Qing empire was a triangular version of the flag featuring the same design which was adopted after 1862 following protests from British officials that were unable to recognise Chinese vessels as the empire had not previously had an official flag. This prompted Prince Yixin to call for the creation of a national flag. The standard design of rectangular flags was rejected for fear of being too similar to that of the Plain Yellow Banner, thus leading to the adoption of the Triangular Design.
The encroachment of the European powers and Japan in the 19th century led to attempts to implement policies of Westernisation within China to varying degrees of success. This period also coincided with the decline of the eight banners, particularly with their failures to suppress the Taiping rebellion between 1850 and 1864, thus lessening their influence and significance within the Qing government and society. Thus in 1881, statesman Li Hongzhang sought to make the Qing flag more similar to flags of other countries, adopting the rectangular design.
The Qing flag was often referred to as the Yellow Dragon Flag. Yellow holds to this day a position of great importance within Chinese colour symbolism. The 五行 (Wuxing) theory of Taoist ties Yellow to the earth element, placing it at the centrepoint of the other 4 elements and generating both Yin and Yang, attributing properties of balance, neutrality, and good luck. Yellow was the colour representing the emperor and both the plain and bordered yellow banners held the highest ranks amongst the eight banners.
The red circle in the top corner on the left side of the flag towards which the dragon is facing is a flaming red pearl, facing is a common symbol in Chinese art involving dragons, and is representative of wisdom, prosperity, and power. Joy itself represented joy and good fortune, tying into the properties associated with the flaming pearl.
Finally the blue dragon is once again a common symbol in Chinese art and has been associated with the Emperor and Imperial power from as early as the Han dynasty. The dragon was a symbol of harmony and good luck, often regarded as a deity of rain. Blue itself was associated with many of the same properties, tying them to the dragon in the flag design.
