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Opium War flag (China)

Last modified: 2022-05-21 by ian macdonald
Keywords: opium war | china | qing dynasty |
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[Lay Osborne Flotilla ensign]
image by Jaume Ollé, 02 December 2009


See also:

Tri-star flag

Tri-star flag used in Opium War against British Invaders Qing Dynasty. The black triangle flag charged with white three stars and white fringe.
The First Opium War or the First Anglo-Chinese War was fought between the British East India Company and the Qing Dynasty of China from 1839 to 1842 with the aim of forcing China to allow free trade, particularly in opium. The Treaty of Nanjing, first of the unequal treaties, granted an indemnity to Britain, opening of five Treaty Ports, and the cession of Hong Kong Island, ending the monopoly of trading in the Canton System. The wars are often cited as the end of China's isolation and the beginning of modern Chinese history.
Nozomi Kariyasu, 02 December 2009

Here are some details about the Tri-star flag on https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/cn_opium.html#tri.
This flag was originally an ordinary flag in a temple, but was used particularly in Sanyuanli incident during the Opium War. The civilians of Sanyuanli village gathered at an old temple and vowed before the battle against British troops, they took this Tri-star flag from the temple as their command flag in the battle.

Ref. (in Chinese)
https://www.chinanews.com.cn/cul/2014/11-17/6782345.shtml

See also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanyuanli_incident

Yijia Chen, 17 April 2022