Mao Zedong's Remarks During the Discussion on the National Flag, National Emblem, National Anthem, National Capital, and Calendar System
(September 25, 1949)

In the past, we always had the idea of incorporating Chinese characteristics into the national flag, so we added a stripe to represent the Yellow River. In fact, the national flags of many countries do not necessarily reflect any particular characteristics of that country. The hammer and sickle on the Soviet flag do not necessarily represent distinct Soviet features—many countries also have the same hammer and sickle. The national flags of Britain and the United States also lack any unique national characteristics.

Our design of the Five-Starred Red Flag represents the great unity of our revolutionary people. Now we need great unity, and in the future, we will still need great unity. Therefore, both now and in the future, it embodies both unity and revolution.

Since the national flag has been decided, can the decision on the national emblem be postponed and left to the government to determine in the future? The original group will continue to exist and work on further designs.

Regarding the issue of the national capital, it is still better to change one character (Note: referring to changing Beiping to Beijing).

As for the calendar system, if the common people want to use the Republic of China calendar, we have no way to stop them, nor can we enact laws to punish them. Just as in the past, when the Republic of China calendar was in use, the common people still used the sexagenary cycle years, and they continued to do so. However, our government must make a decision on which era name to adopt. Even Jesus is not necessarily bad—Jesus is not the same as the Christianity and imperialism being promoted today.

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