The Secret History Behind China's Flag

China's flag tells a story of unity — and it was chosen in a national contest.

In the summer of 1949, with a new republic about to be founded, the government opened a public competition for a new national flag. Nearly 3,000 designs poured in. The winner was a 32-year-old supply chain worker from Shanghai named Zeng Liansong, an ordinary citizen with no formal background in design.

His design: one large star, representing the Communist Party, surrounded by four smaller stars representing the people it leads — all arranged so the smaller stars appear to orbit the larger one, pointing toward it in unity. Red for revolution, gold for the light guiding the way. The People's Republic was founded on October 1, 1949, and the five-star flag was raised for the first time that same day — the date printed on every China design in our catalog.

Out of nearly 3,000 submissions, from a design by someone with no formal design training, came the flag that's flown over the world's most populous country ever since.

See the China Great Wall Tee → · Browse the China collection → — or explore the story behind any other country's flag on our free Flag Story Cards page.