Imperial Chinese flag 1890-1910   Save
Ohio History Connection
Description: This Imperial Chinese flag dates from 1890 to 1911. The wool flag depicts a blue five-toed dragon reaching for a red sun on a yellow rectangular field. The halyard edge is pink. An attached tag has been torn in half; the remaining portion reads "Lt. Gen CH / China / Re / 19." If complete, the tag would likely read "Lieutenant General Chaffee / China / Relief / 1900." Lieutenant General Adna Romanza Chaffee (1842-1914) acquired this flag during his service in the Boxer Rebellion. Alcott Farrar Elwell of East Hebron, New Hampshire, donated this flag to the Ohio Historical Society in 1962. 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. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: H65300_001
Subjects: Ceremonial artifact; Communication artifact; Chinese Society of Right and Harmonious Fists; Military flags; China Relief Expedition; Textile--wool; Lieutenant General; China--History--Boxer Rebellion, 1899-1901
Places: Beijing (China)