Five Races Under One Union

The center flag is the Five-Colored Flag of the Republic of China. Underneath the flags is the message: "Long live the union" (共和萬歲)

Use of the "Five Races" flag in a poster of the Imperial Japanese-dominated Manchukuo, where it is held by the figure on the right, representing China and smilingly accepting the tutleage of Japan

Five races under one union (Chinese: 五族共和 pinyin:Wǔzú gōnghé, literally "five races together") was one of the major principles upon which the Republic of China was originally founded. This principle emphasized the harmony of the five major ethnic groups in China as represented by the colored stripes of the Five-Colored Flag of the Republic: the Han (red), the Manchus (yellow), the Mongols (blue), the Hui (white), and the Tibetans (black).

The concept of "five races under one union" collapsed when the control of the ROC government was wrested from the Beijing-based Beiyang government by the Nanjing-based Chinese Nationalist government after the Northern Expedition.

A variation of this flag was adopted by Yuan Shikai's empire and Manchukuo.

The term Hui in this context primarily referred to the group now known as Uyghur, since the term "Hui Territory" (回疆) meant Chinese Turkistan during the Qing Dynasty. The meaning of the term "Hui people" gradually shifted to its current sense—groups distinguished from the Han Chinese by little other than their Muslim faith—during the period of roughly 1911–49 in the Republic of China.

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Military insignia based on the flag

Air force roundel

National flag 1912-1928

Five Races Under One Union

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See also