Misplaced Pages

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Flags of Japanese prefectures" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Japanese. (May 2022) Click for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Misplaced Pages. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,398 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Misplaced Pages article at ]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|ja|都道府県旗の一覧}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Misplaced Pages:Translation.

Each modern Japanese prefecture has a unique flag, most often a bicolour geometric highly stylised design, often incorporating the characters of the Japanese writing system and resembling minimalistic company logos. The heraldic badges worn by warriors in medieval Japan (mon) were forerunners of the modern emblems used in the prefectural flags.

A distinct feature of these flags is that they use a palette of colours not usually found in flags, including orange, purple, aquamarine and brown.

Some prefectures also have alternative official flags called "symbol flags" (シンボル旗). They may be used on less formal occasions. Famous symbol flags include the one used in Tokyo.

Flags by prefecture

Flag	Prefecture	Geocode	Date of adoption	Description
	Aichi	JP-23	August 15, 1950	Stylised hiragana of あいち (Aichi). The emblem also expresses sunrise and wave to indicate Aichi's location facing the Pacific Ocean.
	Akita	JP-05	November 3, 1959
	Aomori	JP-02	January 1, 1961	Stylised map of the prefecture.
	Chiba	JP-12	July 29, 1963
	Ehime	JP-38	May 5, 1952
	Fukui	JP-18	March 28, 1952
	Fukuoka	JP-40	May 10, 1966
	Fukushima	JP-07	October 23, 1968
	Gifu	JP-21	August 10, 1932
	Gunma	JP-10	October 25, 1968
	Hiroshima	JP-34	July 23, 1966
	Hokkaidō	JP-01	May 1, 1967
	Hyōgo	JP-28	June 10, 1964
	Ibaraki	JP-08	November 13, 1991
	Ishikawa	JP-17	October 1, 1972	Stylised kanji of 石川.
	Iwate	JP-03	March 6, 1965
	Kagawa	JP-37	October 1, 1977
	Kagoshima	JP-46	March 10, 1967
	Kanagawa	JP-14	November 4, 1948
	Kōchi	JP-39	April 15, 1953
	Kumamoto	JP-43	March 31, 1966
	Kyoto	JP-26	November 2, 1976
	Mie	JP-24	April 20, 1964
	Miyagi	JP-04	July 15, 1966
	Miyazaki	JP-45	December 22, 1964
	Nagano	JP-20	March 20, 1967
	Nagasaki	JP-42	August 30, 1991
	Nara	JP-29	March 1, 1968
	Niigata	JP-15	August 23, 1968
	ŌitaŌita	JP-44	July 24, 1966
	Okayama	JP-33	November 22, 1967
	Okinawa	JP-47	October 13, 1972
	Ōsaka	JP-27	June 21, 1968
	Saga	JP-41	December 11, 1968
	Saitama	JP-11	September 1, 1964
	Shiga	JP-25	September 16, 1968
	Shimane	JP-32	November 8, 1968
	Shizuoka	JP-22	August 26, 1968
	Tochigi	JP-09	March 1, 1964
	Tokushima	JP-36	March 18, 1966
	Tokyo	JP-13	October 1, 1964	A six-rayed stylised sun with a dot in the center. The background color is Edo purple (江戸紫, Edo murasaki), which was popular in Edo, the name of Tokyo during the Edo period. This shade of purple is one of the traditional colors of Japan, and is near identical to Web Indigo.
			September 30, 1989	A stylised vivid green Ginkgo biloba leaf. The symbol consists of three arcs combined to resemble a leaf of the ginkgo, the metropolitan tree, and represents T for Tokyo. Created by Rei Yoshimura (レイ吉村), a professional graphic designer.
	Tottori	JP-31	October 23, 1968
	Toyama	JP-16	December 27, 1988
	Wakayama	JP-30	August 7, 1969
	Yamagata	JP-06	March 26, 1963
	Yamaguchi	JP-35	September 3, 1962
	Yamanashi	JP-19	December 1, 1966

Symbol mark flag

• Symbol mark flag of Kagoshima Prefecture
• Symbol mark flag of Tokyo

Historical flags

• Toyama Prefecture (1957–1988)
• Osaka Prefecture (1968–1984)
• Kumamoto Prefecture (1960)
• Yamagata Prefecture (1963–1971)
• Fukushima Prefecture (1951–1968)
• Ibaraki Prefecture (1966–1991)
• Ehime Prefecture (1989–1999)
• Nagasaki Prefecture (1991, unofficial)
• Okinawa Prefecture (24 April–15 May 1972)
• Okinawa Prefecture (15 May–13 October 1972)
• Karafuto Prefecture (1911–1949)

See also

• Flag of Japan
• List of Japanese flags
• Prefectures of Japan

References

1. "DESIGN IN FLAGS: THE BEAUTY FOUND IN JAPAN'S FLAGS". DESIGN MADE IN JAPAN. Retrieved July 21, 2024.
2. Inglefield, Eric (1984). Flags. Arco Pub. p. 18. ISBN 0-668-06262-2.

v t e Flags of Japan
Nation	Flag of Japan
Prefectures	Aichi Akita Aomori Chiba Ehime Fukui Fukuoka Fukushima Gifu Gunma Hiroshima Hokkaido‎‎ Hyōgo Ibaraki Ishikawa Iwate Kagawa Kagoshima Kanagawa Kōchi Kumamoto Kyoto Mie Miyagi Miyazaki Nagano Nagasaki Nara Niigata Ōita Okayama Okinawa Osaka Saga Saitama Shiga Shimane Shizuoka Tochigi Tokushima Tokyo Tottori Toyama Wakayama Yamagata Yamaguchi Yamanashi
Municipalities	Hokkaidō Tōhoku Kantō Chūbu Kansai Chūgoku Shikoku Kyūshū

• Flags of country subdivisions
• Lists of flags of Japan