A white six-rayed sun on Edo purple: the flag of Tokyo was approved for the 1964 Olympics, but its sun dates from 1889.
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 purple field with a 2:3 ratio with a white six-rayed sun 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 was decided in December 1889 by the council of the old city of Tokyo
The flag, with that white sun on a field of edo-murasaki colour, was approved on 1 October 1964,…
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Tokyo is a dark purple, with a white six-rayed sun in the centre. It is the standard of the capital of Japan and one of the most recognisable prefectural flags. The purple has a name of its own: it is called edo colour.
The sun in the centre is much older than the flag. It was decided in December 1889 by the council of the old city of Tokyo, and the new metropolis inherited it in 1943. It is a sun that throws light in six directions: it expresses the wish that Tokyo, the centre of Japan, should grow in every direction. The flag, with that white sun on a field of edo-murasaki colour, was approved on 1 October 1964, the year of the Tokyo Olympic Games, and has not changed since.
Tokyo’s purple flag has not changed since 1964, but the city has used a second flag since 1989, white with a green symbol, for more informal events.
Edo purple (edo-murasaki)
a colour popular in Tokyo for centuries; the prefecture officially calls it that.
White six-rayed sun
Tokyo as the centre of Japan developing in six directions; it was the arms of the old city of 1889.
Some guides add that the sun very discreetly draws characters linked to “Tokyo”; the official reading is that of the sun and its rays.
That sun began as the arms of the old city of Tokyo, chosen in December 1889. The metropolis inherited it in 1943 and only in 1964 raised it to a flag.
The purple flag was approved on 1 October 1964, to coincide with the year of the Tokyo Olympic Games.
In front of its government, Tokyo flies two standards at once: the purple one, for formal events, and another white one with a green T, for more informal ones.
On the white flag, the central T is the initial of Tokyo, not a leaf of the prefecture’s tree, although many believe it to be.
Test what you have read about the flag of Tokyo.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Original: Unknown Vector: Zscout370, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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