Three yellow lozenges form the syllable ミ of Miyazaki on a green field: the flag was born in 1964 from a competition with 403 entries.
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 green, with three yellow lozenges set diagonally that draw the syllable ミ.
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.
Miyazaki had split from Kagoshima in 1883
The commission debated at length whether it should copy the local coat of arms of 1912
On the eightieth anniversary of the split, in 1963, the government set up a commission to create…
The design has not changed since its approval on 22 December 1964
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Miyazaki is a green field with three yellow lozenges set diagonally. The lozenges draw the syllable ミ (mi), the first of its name in katakana, the Japanese syllabary. It is the symbol of a prefecture in the southeast of Kyushu, in the south of Japan.
Miyazaki had split from Kagoshima in 1883. On the eightieth anniversary of the split, in 1963, the government set up a commission to create a flag of its own. The commission debated at length whether it should copy the local coat of arms of 1912, and in the end called a competition open to any design: 403 entries arrived from people aged between 10 and 88.
The design has not changed since its approval on 22 December 1964. That same day Miyazaki also launched its official song, which is still in use.
This is the official reading of the prefecture:
Green ground
the land of Miyazaki, full of fields and forests.
Yellow lozenges
the light of the sun falling on it.
The shape ミ
rays and ground together form the first syllable of the name of Miyazaki in katakana.
Neither of the two finalist designs was entirely convincing. A member of the jury rescued one that had been discarded, the colours of the other were added to it and that hybrid won; authorship was credited to Takeyuki Mio.
Miyazaki is one of the few Japanese prefectures whose flag does not use its coat of arms, as do Oita, Hyogo, Ehime and Saga.
Test what you have read about the flag of Miyazaki.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Ninane at nl.wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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