Four ma syllables of the Japanese syllabary form a golden ring on a wine ground: a play on words that reads Shimane, created in 1968.
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 2:3 ratio in wine brown, with a golden ring in the centre.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Shimane is wine brown with a golden ring in the centre. That ring is made of four ma (マ) signs of the katakana syllabary, joined into a stylised cloud. It is a play on words: in Japanese shi can mean four, and four ma read shima, the beginning of Shimane.
The prefecture approved the emblem and the flag on 8 November 1968, by official notification number 955, as part of the celebrations of the centenary of the Meiji era, like its neighbour Tottori.
The flag has not changed since 1968. In its simplified version the golden emblem may be replaced with a white one.
Ring in the shape of a cloud
according to the official interpretation, the union of the inhabitants and the harmonious development and drive of the prefecture.
Wine brown ground
the 1968 notification fixes a brown; flag manuals describe it as wine colour. It represents neither Lake Shinji nor any mountain: it is pure wordplay.
In 1990 Shimane commissioned a second symbol, called Shimanesc, a sun drawn with dynamic lines. Since the late 2000s the prefecture itself used it less and gave priority to the 1968 emblem.
From 1952 to 1968 prefectural employees wore a double circle with the word SIMANE in Roman letters and the old kanji for prefecture. It was used instead of a flag, but its design on cloth is not known.
Test what you have read about the flag of Shimane.
Sources consulted:
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