page_title: Flag of Japan
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Flag of Japan / Design
caption_attribution_description: Nihonbashi, Tokyo Japan sun and the moon)&amp;t=m See where this picture was taken. [?] [MAP by ALPSLAB]
context_page_description: The national flag of Japan is a rectangular white banner bearing a crimson-red disc at its center. This flag is officially called Nisshōki, but is more commonly known in Japan as Hinomaru. It embodies the country's sobriquet: Land of the Rising Sun.
  The Nisshōki flag is designated as the national flag in the Act on National Flag and Anthem, which was promulgated and became effective on August 13, 1999. Although no earlier legislation had specified a national flag, the sun-disc flag had already become the de facto national flag of Japan. Two proclamations issued in 1870 by the Daijō-kan, the governmental body of the early Meiji period, each had a provision for a design of the national flag. A sun-disc flag was adopted as the national flag for merchant ships under Proclamation No. 57 of Meiji 3, and as the national flag used by the Navy under Proclamation No. 651 of Meiji 3. Use of the Hinomaru was severely restricted during the early years of the Allied occupation of Japan after World War II; these restrictions were later relaxed.
context_section_description: Passed in 1870, the Prime Minister's Proclamation No. 57 had two provisions related to the national flag. The first provision specified who flew the flag and how it was flown; the second specified how the flag was made. The ratio was seven units width and ten units length (7:10). The red disc, which represents the sun, was calculated to be three-fifths of the hoist width. The law decreed the disc to be in the center, but it was usually placed one-hundredth (​¹⁄₁₀₀) towards the hoist. On October 3 of the same year, regulations about the design of the merchant ensign and other naval flags were passed. For the merchant flag, the ratio was two units width and three units length (2:3). The size of the disc remained the same, but the sun disc was placed one-twentieth (​¹⁄₂₀) towards the hoist.
  When the Law Regarding the National Flag and National Anthem passed, the dimensions of the flag were slightly altered. The overall ratio of the flag was changed to two units width by three units length (2:3). The red disc was shifted towards the center, but the overall size of the disc stayed the same. The background of the flag is white and the sun disc is red (紅色, beni iro), but the exact color shades were not defined in the 1999 law. The only hint given about the red color is that it is a "deep" shade.
  Issued by the Japan Defense Agency (now the Ministry of Defense) in 1973 (Showa 48), specifications list the red color of the flag as 5R 4/12 and the white as N9 in the Munsell color chart. The document was changed on March 21, 2008 (Heisei 20) to match the flag's construction with current legislation and updated the Munsell colors. The document lists acrylic fiber and nylon as fibers that could be used in construction of flags used by the military. For acrylic, the red color is 5.7R 3.7/15.5 and white is N9.4; nylon has 6.2R 4/15.2 for red and N9.2 for white. In a document issued by the Official Development Assistance (ODA), the red color for the Hinomaru and the ODA logo is listed as DIC 156 and CMYK 0-100-90-0. During deliberations about the Law Regarding the National Flag and National Anthem, there was a suggestion to either use a bright red (赤色, aka iro) shade or use one from the color pool of the Japanese Industrial Standards.
caption: Flag of Japan flying
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