Japan .jp

Meaning of the Flag

The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner with a red circle at its center. The flag is officially called the Nisshōki (日章旗, 'flag of the sun') but is more commonly known in Japan as the Hinomaru (日の丸, 'ball of the sun'). In addition to instructing the schools to teach and play Kimigayo, Tanaka wanted students to raise the Hinomaru flag in a ceremony every morning, and to adopt a moral curriculum based on certain elements of the Imperial Rescript on Education pronounced by the Meiji Emperor in 1890. One tradition is that no writing should touch the sun disc. The tradition of signing the Hinomaru as a good luck charm still continues, though in a limited fashion.

Meaning of Flag Colors

Red, White

Flag History

1. 1854
   In 1854, during the Tokugawa shogunate, Japanese ships were ordered to hoist the Hinomaru to distinguish themselves from foreign ships.
2. 1868–1945
   

   The Hinomaru was decreed the merchant flag of Japan in 1870 and was the legal national flag from 1870 to 1885, making it the first national flag Japan adopted.
3. 1870–1999
   

   Two proclamations issued in 1870 by the Daijō-kan, the governmental body of the early Meiji period, each had a provision for a design of the national flag.
4. 1999–present
   

   Current national flag, in use since 1999.

Location