Flag of Hong Kong

Flag origins

Hong Kong’s regional flag has a white five-petaled bauhinia on red, with a red five-pointed star in each petal. The Basic Law specifies it as the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s regional flag. Official explanations associate red with China, the white bauhinia with Hong Kong, the color combination with One Country, Two Systems, and the five stars with the bond between Hong Kong’s people and the motherland. The petals form a clockwise swirl. The National People’s Congress adopted the design in 1990. It entered official use on July 1, 1997, at the transfer from British to Chinese sovereignty.

Flag story

The flower is Bauhinia × blakeana, discovered in Hong Kong and now a symbol of the region. The same five-petaled flower appears in the regional emblem. The five stars are integrated one into each petal, rather than simply lined up as copies of the stars on China’s flag. The design maintains that Chinese connection while placing a plant associated with Hong Kong at its center.

Editorial notes and references

Edited by ABELHA WORKS. The English text translates the administrator-edited Japanese description. Legends should be distinguished from documented history. General reference links do not substantiate every statement in the text.

• Hong Kong — general information on Wikipedia
• Japan MOFA: countries and regions (Japanese)

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