Proposed Flag of Taiwan - Prospects and Consensus

Prospects and Consensus

While there have been some debates about replacing the ROC flag, the likelihood of doing so is not high given that it requires a constitutional amendment, which needs wide bipartisan support and a referendum under the conditions of the article 12 of the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China. The present flag has a huge amount of support among Pan-Blue Coalition supporters as the symbol of a Chinese democracy and even acquiescence by some independence supporters for various other reasons.

While green has emerged as the color of Taiwan independence and can be seen ubiquitously in pro-independence rallies, at the moment, no one flag has achieved consensus among the various groups. Unlike other political movements, those in Taiwan do not feel there is a historical or local flag suitable for use as a symbol. The flag of the short-lived Republic of Formosa is considered to be unsuitable by some, since that republic was declared by Chinese loyalists and designed as a tributary state in a failed attempt to avert Japanese colonization in 1895. The present national flag, the flag of the Republic of China, is seen by others as a symbol of Chinese nationalism.

At rallies of the Pan-Green Coalition, green campaign banners and party flags are common while the national flag is rarely displayed, but the various proposed flags are never seen in unison. A dilemma arose when Lee Teng-hui was scheduled to speak at the National Press Club in Washington, DC in 2005: while National Press Club conventions would have called the ROC flag to be flown to reflect the nationality of the speaker, pro-independence groups objected to using the flag of the Republic of China. However, the National Press Club's only other alternative, a Democratic Progressive Party flag, would have been inappropriate anyways as Lee Teng Hui was not a DPP member.