Six leaves hold the kanji 京 in the shape of a person: the purple flag of Kyoto, capital of Japan for over a thousand years, came out of a competition in 1976.
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 with a 5:7 ratio in purple, with the emblem of Kyoto 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.
It makes sense in a city that was the capital of Japan for over a thousand years, until 1868, heir…
In 1870 the prefecture set a flag of three vertical stripes
No official flag: for decades Kyoto went out to national sporting events with the tricolour…
In 1976, on the thirtieth anniversary of the postwar constitution
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Kyoto is a deep purple with a white emblem in the centre. That emblem hides a small portrait: inside six leaves, the prefecture placed the kanji 京 (kyō, “capital”) drawn in the shape of a person. It makes sense in a city that was the capital of Japan for over a thousand years, until 1868, heir to Nara.
The design came late for a city with so much history. In 1976, on the thirtieth anniversary of the postwar constitution, the prefecture called a public competition, and the winning drawing became emblem and flag on 2 November 1976. The official reading is told by the prefecture itself: the six leaves represent the status of old capital, the central kanji 京 has a human silhouette, and the whole thing symbolises the union of all the inhabitants and the sum of their strength.
Although the current emblem dates from 1976, Kyoto had a flag almost a century earlier, and between the two it was left without one of its own.
1870
In 1870 the prefecture set a flag of three vertical stripes, red, white and red, to distinguish its officials: it is considered the first prefectural flag in Japan. Its use was so limited that it is not even clear until when it was hoisted.
1946-1976
No official flag: for decades Kyoto went out to national sporting events with the tricolour of its sports association, created in 1946, which did the job of the prefecture’s standard.
1976
The current flag, with a 5:7 ratio and the colour fixed down to the detail by the rule.
Six leaves
the status and elegance of the old capital, according to the official explanation.
京 (kanji kyō)
“capital”, drawn in the shape of a person in the centre.
The emblem as a whole
the union of the inhabitants of Kyoto and their bound strength, in official words.
Purple
the 1976 rule fixed the exact shade of the ground, but gave it no meaning.
The one of 1870 was, as far as is known, the first flag of a Japanese prefecture: the others took almost a century to arrive.
The three vertical stripes, red, white and red, of the 1870 flag recall the Peruvian flag a great deal.
Until 1976 Kyoto had no standard of its own: it was carried across the country by the tricolour of its sports association, born in 1946.
Test what you have read about the flag of Kyoto.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Emblem of Kyoto Prefecture.svg by Mike Rohsopht Flag of Kyoto Prefecture.png by Machina in the Deep-Blue Sea (based on a work by Shane Markle) This derivative work: Pchapman12345 Minor corrections: Zscout370, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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