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Japan Flags – Japanese Hinomaru Flag, Rising Sun Flag & Bunting
Japan flags for National Foundation Day, the Brave Blossoms and every sushi bar, dojo and anime convention. Fly the Japanese flag in 3x2, 5x3 or 8x5ft, hang Japan bunting across the restaurant and wave Japan hand flags at the rugby. The Rising Sun flag is here in red, black, blue and green.
Japan Flagfrom £6.99-
Japan Flag
Choose size →5 sizes · 2 qualities · 3 fittingsThe price depends on the options chosen on the product pagefromAs low as £5.99 -
Japan Rising Sun Flag
Choose size →3 sizesThe price depends on the options chosen on the product pagefromAs low as £6.98
Shop Japan in every format
Japan flags: the Hinomaru
The Japanese flag, the Nisshōki or more commonly the Hinomaru (“circle of the sun”), is a crimson disc centred on a white field, the disc three-fifths of the flag’s height, in a 2:3 proportion. A sun disc had flown over Japanese ships and castles for centuries before a proclamation of 1870 made it the merchant ensign, with the disc set a little toward the hoist; the Act on National Flag and Anthem of 13 August 1999 finally gave it legal standing as the national flag and moved the disc to dead centre. Our Japan flag prints the disc at the correct size and in the deep crimson the law specifies rather than the orange-red of a poor copy, on a white that stays white.
The Japan Rising Sun flag, the Kyokujitsu-ki, puts sixteen red rays behind the sun; it was the war flag of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1870 and is still the ensign of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, where the disc sits toward the hoist. It remains a contested symbol in Korea and China, so for an international event the plain Hinomaru is the safer choice. We stock the standard version, a Rising Sun with writing, and the ray design recoloured in black, blue and green for motorsport garages, martial-arts clubs and streetwear displays.
National Foundation Day, the Brave Blossoms and the restaurant trade
National Foundation Day on 11 February and the Emperor’s Birthday on 23 February are the embassy and community dates, followed by hanami cherry-blossom picnics in April and the Japan Matsuri in Trafalgar Square each autumn. Sport brings the bigger orders: the Brave Blossoms’ autumn rugby tests at Twickenham and Murrayfield, the Samurai Blue at a World Cup, Japanese drivers and riders in Formula 1 and MotoGP, and the sumo, judo and karate clubs that keep a Hinomaru on the dojo wall. Japanese restaurants, ramen bars and sushi counters fly one all year, and anime and gaming conventions buy them by the box.
Which size Japanese flag?
A 5ft x 3ft Japan flag suits a restaurant front, a dojo wall or a 20ft telescopic garden pole. 3ft x 2ft fits a smaller pole, a market stall or a bedroom; 8ft x 5ft is the size for a school flagpole, a convention stage or a martial-arts tournament hall. All sizes have eyelets on a sewn header, and the DuraFlag can be supplied with rope and toggle or clips.
Flagtex and DuraFlag
Flagtex is the printed-through woven polyester grade, with the disc showing on both faces and priced for events and classroom use. The Japan DuraFlag is the flag for a Japanese company’s UK head office, a school or a club pole in use every day: 150gsm knitted polyester, double-stitched hems, reinforced header and UV-fast inks, in 3x2, 5x3 and 8x5ft and a courtesy size for yachts.
Japan bunting
Japan bunting repeats the Hinomaru on each pennant in rectangle or triangle cut, printed on weatherproof polyester and sewn to a strong tape, for a ramen bar’s ceiling, a Japan-themed school week or a matsuri stall, and Japan Rising Sun bunting gives a motorsport garage or a bike night the ray design.
Hand flags, table flags and more
Japan hand flags on wooden sticks are sold singly and in packs for rugby crowds, embassy events and arrivals at Heathrow. The Japan table flag with base and the Rising Sun table flag suit a sushi counter, a Japanese company reception or a language-school desk, the satin Japan table flag on a chrome base is for a boardroom, and the Japan wooden table flag is the pocket-sized gift. South Korea, China, the Philippines and the rest of Asia are under world flags.
Japanese flag FAQs
What does the Japanese flag look like?
A plain white rectangle, two units high by three long, with a single crimson disc in the centre three-fifths as tall as the flag. There is no writing and no border.
What does the Japan flag mean?
The disc is the sun: Japan is the “land of the rising sun” and the imperial line traces itself to the sun goddess Amaterasu. White is read as purity and honesty, red as sincerity and warmth.
What is the difference between the Hinomaru and the Rising Sun flag?
The Hinomaru is the plain disc and is the national flag. The Rising Sun adds sixteen rays and is a military ensign used by the Maritime Self-Defense Force, with a history as the Imperial Army’s war flag.
Is the Rising Sun flag offensive?
It is seen as a symbol of wartime occupation in South Korea and China and has been banned at some sporting events there, though it is legal and commonly used in Japan. For a public international event choose the plain Japanese flag.
When was the Japanese flag adopted?
A proclamation of 27 February 1870 made the sun disc the merchant flag, and the Act on National Flag and Anthem of 13 August 1999 made it the official national flag with the disc centred.
What size Japan flag for a 20ft telescopic pole?
5ft x 3ft, where the disc comes out about 22 inches across. Choose 8ft x 5ft only for a fixed pole of 25ft or more.
When is the Japanese flag flown?
National Foundation Day on 11 February, the Emperor’s Birthday on 23 February, Constitution Memorial Day on 3 May and the other national holidays, and by supporters whenever Japan play.