Blue field with a white rose in the centre, approved in 1991: the blue recalls the Pacific and Mount Tsukuba in Ibaraki.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field —the cloth of the flag —with a 2:3 ratio, blue and plain, with a white rosebud in the centre.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
Ibaraki launched its flag in 1966 and changed it completely on 13 November 1991
Ibaraki is one of the few prefectures whose flag has indeed changed: the 1991 one replaced a very…
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Ibaraki is a blue field with a white rose in the centre. Ibaraki lies to the north-east of Tokyo, looking out at the Pacific Ocean, and its flag brings together that coastline and Mount Tsukuba.
As in almost all the Japanese prefectures, here there is no flag law. The standard is simply the emblem of the prefecture placed on a field, and the emblem is approved by the prefecture itself in an official notification. Ibaraki launched its flag in 1966 and changed it completely on 13 November 1991.
The current design is a rosebud, the flower of the prefecture, in white on blue. According to Ibaraki, the blue is the Pacific Ocean and Mount Tsukuba, and the bud expresses the urge to create new things and to move ahead of its time.
Ibaraki is one of the few prefectures whose flag has indeed changed: the 1991 one replaced a very different flag of 1966.
1966-1991
From 28 March 1966 Ibaraki used another flag: the katakana syllable of its name drawn in the shape of a rose, in white on a blue ground. I have not found that version in Wikimedia Commons, so here it is only described in words.
1991
On 13 November 1991 the prefecture approved a new emblem, a rosebud in white on blue, which is the flag seen today.
The meaning is the prefecture’s own official interpretation:
Blue
the Pacific Ocean and Mount Tsukuba, two of its hallmarks.
White rosebud
the rose is the flower of Ibaraki; the bud draws the desire to innovate and progress.
Renewing the standard in 1991 was late: Ibaraki had launched its flag in 1966 and used it for twenty-five years before changing it for the current one.
For the prefecture, that colour means the Pacific and Mount Tsukuba at the same time, the best-known two-peaked mountain of the area.
Like most Japanese prefectural flags, Ibaraki’s comes from an agreement of the prefecture itself, not from a state law.
Test what you have read about the flag of Ibaraki.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Monaneko, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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