Flag Raising Ceremony (China)

The Flag Raising Ceremony is a traditional military ceremony of the People's Liberation Army of China which is done publicly on Tiananmen Square in the capital of Beijing. The ceremony is conducted by the PLA's Beijing Garrison Honor Guard Battalion, which is part of the 1st Guard Division, Central Theater Command. It done on the first of every month, with notable ceremonies taking place on National Day of the People's Republic of China in October and New Year's Day in January.

A detail from the People's Armed Police preparing to raise the flag.

Description

Upon marching out of the Tiananmen Gate and the Golden Water Bridge, following the sounding of a fanfare, the unit commander for the Beijing Garrison Honor Guard Battalion orders the unit to begin goosesteping in slow time, when it crosses the bridge, it returns to its normal pace and splits off to have two formations on each side of the flagpole while the colour guard moves into position. The commander will then give the command, "Salute to the flag", which is effectively the order for the unit to present arms and raise the flag. Once this is done, the PLA Central Band plays March of the Volunteers, after which Ode to the Motherland is performed and dozens of birds are released past the flag as the color company forms up for the marchoff.

History

The first flag-raising ceremony on Tiananmen Square took place on 1 October 1949 during the Proclamation of the People's Republic of China. After that, the raising of the flag was done by electrical means for two decades, with" exceptions to this being done on 1 October.[1][2] An official ceremony was inaugurated in May 1977 with the 3 PLA soldiers from Weifang raising the flag. This continued until 28 December 1982, when the newly formed People's Armed Police and its honour guard took over the ceremony which would last for 35 years. In December 1992, on the basis of the original flag guard, the National Color Guard was expanded into a battalion-sized unit of the PAP. The detachment was called the Tiananmen Guard Detachment.[3][4][5][6] On New Year's Day in 2018, the People's Liberation Army took over command of the ceremony, with a 96-man composite national color guard company made up of guardsmen from the service branches (the PLA Ground Force, Navy and Air Force).[7] This followed the then-recent attachment of the Beijing Garrison Color Guard Company to the BGHGB which led to its reformation, this time, with PLA personnel. According to the Xinhua News Agency (the official state-run press agency of the PRC), the changes marked a "new era" of national civil-military ceremonies.[8][9]

Similar ceremonies in the country
A flag raising ceremony conducted on 30 August 2008 to welcome national athletes from Mainland China.

In Hong Kong, a daily flag raising ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. It is conducted by the Hong Kong Police Force and is divided into three types of ceremonies, a daily one, and enhanced ceremony (on the 1st of every month) and a special ceremony (Establishment Day and National Day). It includes the playing of the national anthem by the Hong Kong Police Band followed by a 10-minute musical performance by the band.[10]

See also

References
  1. "五星红旗背后的故事". 中国青年报. 2010-06-25. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  2. 崔靖芳. "胡其俊的升旗仪式". 民生周刊. 人民日报社. 2011年第40-41期.
  3. "武警天安门警卫支队开展军人样子大讨论".
  4. "武警国旗护卫队新兵选拔：身高1.8米以上".
  5. "忠诚镌刻在高高飘扬的五星红旗上". Archived from the original on 2018-02-22. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  6. "武警部队2016年度基层建设标兵榜".
  7. "China Focus: PLA takes over flag-raising duty at Tian'anmen Square on New Year's Day - Xinhua | English.news.cn". xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2018-04-21.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Dawn of a new era with changing of the guard for Beijing's sunrise flag-raising service". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  10. "Golden Bauhinia Square (and HKCEC) | Hong Kong Tourism Board". discoverhongkong.com. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
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