The Empire of China during the Manchu-led Qing dynasty did not have an official state emblem, but the flag featured the azure dragon on a plain yellow field with a red sun of the three-legged crow[citation needed] in the upper left corner.

Following the end of Qing rule, new national symbols were deemed necessary by the leaders to represent the changed circumstances.

The renowned writers Lu Xun, Qian Daosun, and Xu Shoushang from the Ministry of Education were tasked with designing a new national emblem.

The state emblem was therefore replaced with the Kuomintang party symbol Blue Sky with a White Sun.

The mountains represent earth, the cups metal, the pondweed water, the rice grains wood, and fire, which are all representations of wu xing.