Beiyang period , national emblem of the
Republic of China (1913–1928) and the
Empire of China (1915–1916). The national emblem of the Republic of China was derived from the Blue Sky with a White Sun flag. The emblem was designed by
He Yingqin at
Whampoa Military Academy in 1924 and was set as the national emblem by the
Law of national flag and national emblem of the Republic of China in 1928. On the national emblem rays of sun have some distance to the edge, symbolizing the broadness of the sky, while on
Kuomintang emblem the rays reach the edge, symbolizing the spirit of revolution is as powerful as the sun. The national emblem of the Republic of China from 1913 to 1928 is called
Twelve Symbols national emblem, based on the traditional symbols on clothes of ancient Chinese emperors. It was designed by
Lu Xun,
Qian Daosun and
Xu Shoushang on August 28, 1912, and was set as national emblem in February 1913. It remained as the national emblem during the Empire of China from 1915 to 1916. After the
Northern Expedition it was replaced by the Blue Sky with a White Sun national emblem in 1928.
Nationalist period Since 1928, under the KMT's political tutelage, the Blue Sky with a White Sun Flag shared the same prominence as the ROC flag. A common wall display consisted of the KMT flag perched on the left and the ROC flag perched on the right, each tilted at an angle with a portrait of
Founding Father Sun Yat-sen displayed in the center. After the promulgation of the
Constitution of the Republic of China, the party flag was removed from such a display and the national flag was moved to the center. To promote a sense of national identity, the design of the national emblem was freely available to use and was featured prominently in corporate logos, art during the era. File:Zhongshan12.jpg|Ceiling of the sacrificial hall,
Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum File:廣州市市徽 (1926-1949).svg|Emblem of the
City of Canton (1926–1949) File:Coat_of_arms_of_Cardinal_Paul_Yü_Pin.svg|Coat of arms of Cardinal
Paul Yü Pin, Archbishop of Nanking File:Roundel of the Republic of China (1930–1943) – Eurasia Aviation Corporation.svg|Roundel of
Eurasia Aviation Corporation, a defunct Chinese airline headquartered in
Shanghai.
Taiwanese period Since the ROC government moved to Taiwan and especially in the years since the end of
martial law the KMT flag has lost some of its prominence. However, it is still frequently seen on KMT party buildings, in political rallies and other meetings of KMT and the
pan-blue coalition. The flag and the symbol made news during the
ROC legislative elections of 2004, when President Chen Shui-bian suggested that the Kuomintang's flag and party emblem violated the ROC's National Emblem Law for being too similar to the national emblem of the Republic of China. Chen stated that the law forbids the ROC's emblem and flag from being used by non-governmental organizations and warned that the KMT would have three months to change its flag and emblem if his Democratic Progressive Party won a majority of seats in the legislature. The KMT responded by asking the government to change the national emblem, saying the KMT emblem existed first. However, the
pan-green coalition failed to win a majority, and Chen took no action for the remainder of his presidency. On 29 January 2021, the Legislative Yuan passed a resolution proposed by the
New Power Party on 29 January instructing the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to look into ways of addressing the issue of the similarity between the national emblem, in use since 1928 for all of China, and the KMT party flag. The MOI responded that through their analysis of the current situation, the change "should not be taken lightly," though suggesting that symbols of political parties could be changed. File:KMT Kaohsiung City Division 20140724.jpg|The KMT (sides) and ROC (center) flags displayed at a party building in
Kaohsiung. Emblem of the Kuomintang.svg|The
Taiwan Railways Administration also used KMT emblem as its logo from 1945 to 1950. ==Use in other countries==