Imperial Chinese Flag 1872-1890   Save
Ohio History Connection
Description: This Imperial Chinese flag dates from 1872 to 1890. The wool flag depicts a blue five-toed dragon reaching for a red sun on a yellow triangular field. The halyard edge is pink. Lieutenant General Adna Romanza Chaffee acquired this flag during his service in the Boxer Rebellion. The triangular pennant flag measures 170 by 285 cm. From 1899-1901, the Chinese Society of Right and Harmonious Fists launched an uprising against foreign influences in China. Westerners referred to members of the society as "Boxers" because they practiced martial arts and calisthenics. Targets of the Boxers' violence were foreign builders, diplomats and Christians, both foreign and Chinese. The United States and other countries with interests in China sent troops to rescue their citizens who were under siege in the legation compound of Beijing (then Peking). This international force, known in the United States as the China Relief Expedition, suppressed the rebellion and imposed reparations on China. Alcott Farrar Elwell of East Hebron, New Hampshire, donated this flag to the Ohio Historical Society in 1962. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: H65299_001
Subjects: China--History--Boxer Rebellion, 1899-1901; Communication artifacts; Pennant
Places: Ohio History Connection