a mandarin square (traditional chinese: è£å­; simplified chinese: è¡¥å­; pinyin: bÅ­zi; wade-giles: putzÅ­; manchu:  sabirgi), also known as a rank badge, was a large embroidered badge sewn onto the surcoat of an official in imperial china. it was embroidered with detailed, colourful animal or bird insignia indicating the rank of the official wearing it. ==ming dynasty==  mandarin squares were first authorized for wear in 1391 by the ming dynasty. the use of squares depicting birds for civil officials and animals for military officials was an outgrowth of the use of similar squares, apparently for decorative use, in the yuan dynasty.cammann, schuyler: birds and animals as ming and châing badges of rank", arts of asia (may to june 1991), page 89. the original court dress regulations of the ming dynasty were published in 1368, but did not refer to badges as rank insignia.cammann, schuyler: "development of the mandarin square", harvard journal of asiatic studies vol viii, no 2 (1944), pages 75â6. these badges continued to be used through the remainder of the ming and the subsequent qing dynasty until the imperial system fell in 1912. ming nobles and officials wore their rank badges on full-cut red robes with the design stretching from side to side, completely covering the chest and back. this caused the badges to be slightly trapezoidal with the tops narrower than the bottom.cammann, schuyler: "chinese mandarin squares, brief catalogue of the letcher collection", university museum bulletin vol 17, no 3 (june 1953), pages 8â9. the ming statutes never refer to the number of birds or animals that should appear on the badges. in the beginning, two or three were used. in a typical example of paired birds, they were shown in flight on a background of bright cloud streamers on a gold background. others showed one bird on the ground with the second in flight. the addition of flowers produced an idealized naturalism.cammann, schuyler: "chinese mandarin squares, brief catalogue of the letcher collection", university museum bulletin vol 17, no 3 (june 1953), page 9.cammann, schuyler: "development of the mandarin square", harvard journal of asiatic studies vol viii, no 2 (1944), page 95. ==qing dynasty==  there was a sharp difference between the ming and qing styles of badges: the qing badges were smaller with a decorative bor
Chinese_clothing History_of_Imperial_China Insignia Orders,_decorations,_and_medals_of_Imperial_China