Original draft of the national flag designed by Zeng Liansong (collection of the National Museum of China)
The designer Zeng Liansong displayed the original design of the national flag
Zeng Liansong's youth photo
Wang Chao
Scan the code to learn more
Scan the code to watch the video
Red mail business card
Stamps commemorating the founding of the People's Republic of China
In order to solemnly celebrate the founding ceremony, on November 1, 1949, the Post and Telecommunications Administration of the Liberated Area of Luda on the Liaodong Peninsula issued a stamp commemorating the founding of the People's Republic of China, which was the first set of stamps to commemorate the National Day after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
A set of stamps in commemoration of the founding of the People's Republic of China, with a length of 30 mm and a width of 27 mm. The stamp design is based on the front gate of Beijing, the semicircular three-dimensional gear on the left is printed with the red lishu stamp title of "Commemoration of the Founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949", the right is a five-star red flag fluttering in the wind, and in the middle is a radiant yellow five-pointed star, the five-pointed star is painted with the image of Chairman Mao, and the national flag outlines the Great Wall, factories, machines and mass parades. The Arabic numeral "35" is printed in the upper left corner, and the words "Brigade University Post and Telecommunications Administration" and "Three Shi Wu Yuan" are printed in blue letters in the lower left corner and the lower right corner, respectively.
This stamp, illustrated by Qin Shaopu and designed by Cao Hongyi, was issued 8 months before the "Commemoration of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" stamp marked "Ji 4", and undoubtedly became the first stamp of the New China National Day. For the first time, the stamp presented the words "Commemoration of the Founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949", which created a historical precedent for the issuance of stamps with the theme of New China's National Day.
Xie Yi, a philatelic expert, executive director of the Guangzhou Philatelic Association, and director of the Guangzhou Youth Philatelic Work Committee, said in an interview with this newspaper that at that time, China's printing equipment was backward, and this set of stamps was a rare color stamp in the Liberated Areas and the early days of the founding of New China, which not only created a precedent for the issuance of stamps with the theme of New China's National Day, but also the first stamp to display the five-star red flag. The Commemorative Stamps of the Founding of the People's Republic of China began to be used in November 1949 until they ceased to be sold on June 30, 1950, and ceased to be used on July 8, 1950. This set of stamps has been issued and used for a short time, and the number of surviving stamps is limited, and it has been handed down to this day, and the perfect quality of the actual seal is even more precious.
Historical Background:
The founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China
In April 1949, the heroic Chinese People's Liberation Army, with the power of destruction and decay, occupied Nanjing, the nest of the Kuomintang reactionary government, in one fell swoop, and the flag of "blue sky and white sun full of red" fell. At the same time, a symbol of the sovereignty and dignity of New China, the national flag, has begun to be depicted in the hearts of the party and the people.
On October 1, 1949, 300,000 people gathered in Tiananmen Square to attend the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China. At exactly 3 p.m., amid the cheers of the masses, Chairman Mao Zedong announced from the tower of Tiananmen Square: "The Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China was established today!" He activated the electric button, raised the first five-star red flag of the People's Republic of China, and read out the announcement of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China.
On November 1 of that year, the bright five-star red flag appeared for the first time as a national flag in the stamp of the "Commemoration of the Founding of the People's Republic of China", which fixed the glorious history of the founding of the People's Republic of China between square inches.
Text, photo/ Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Wu Bo
Historical Review:
Five Stars is inspired by the North Star
How was the national flag of the People's Republic of China, the Five-Star Red Flag, born? Who is its designer? Less than 4 days before the founding ceremony, who undertook the task of making the national flag overnight? In response to the topic of the birth of the five-star red flag, the reporter interviewed Professor Wang Chao, a party history expert at the Party School of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee. He told reporters that on June 15, 1949, the Preparatory Committee for the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference was formally established in Beiping, shortly after liberation, and the preparatory work undertaken by the association included the important task of formulating the national flag of the People's Republic of China.
Wang Chao told reporters that Zeng Liansong, the designer of the five-star red flag pattern, is an obscure comrade who has been engaged in planning and financial work for a long time. On June 15, the preparatory committee held its first meeting, put the work of drafting the national flag on the agenda, and decided to set up a sixth group to be responsible. On July 4, the sixth group held a meeting at the Zhongnanhai Qinzheng Hall and decided to publish the "National Flag Solicitation Notice" nationwide, which was published simultaneously in major newspapers such as People's Daily and Liberation Daily. In just 30 days, more than 3,000 national flag designs at home and abroad were sent to the preparatory meeting, of which the No. 32 plan attracted the attention of the delegates. The designer of this pattern is Zeng Liansong. Eventually, the sixth group agreed to adopt the pattern. On September 25, the five-star red flag was affirmed by Chairman Mao, and on September 27, the national flag bill was unanimously passed at the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and the national flag of the People's Republic of China was born. Zeng Liansong thus became the designer of the national flag.
According to the data, Zeng Liansong was originally from Ruian, Zhejiang Province, and when he was a teenager, he loved calligraphy and painting and wrote well. Zeng Liansong repeatedly read the "People's Daily", "Xinhua Daily", "Liberation Daily" and other newspapers and periodicals to solicit the national flag pattern notice, the design after repeated deliberation, painstakingly conceived, to determine the appropriate position of the five gold stars. He had wanted to put the big star in the middle of the flag, and the small star would surround it. In this way, it seems dignified, but the heavens and the earth are not open enough, and the vision is cramped and stagnant. He sketched again and again, surviving many sleepless nights.
Nearly a month has passed, and once, he moved the five stars to the upper left of the flag, and suddenly felt that the field of vision was wide: the flag was as wide as a thousand miles, and Venus was condescending and shining, as if people saw the starlight reflecting the earth, brilliant and brilliant. The combined figure of the five Venus stars, the size echoes, densely interspersed, forming an oval shape, appearing smooth and harmonious, clear and imposing.
In Zeng Liansong's design, the center point of each small star is connected to the center point of the big star through its own star tip, showing the historical conclusion that the Communist Party of China is the leading core of the whole Chinese people on the flag. The color is mainly red, expressing warm feelings and symbolizing revolution; with yellow, brilliant and brilliant, a piece of light.
"What is the meaning of the 'star' of the five-star red flag? Because Chinese there is a saying, called 'hoping for the stars, hoping for the moon', 'walking a long way at night, to see the Big Dipper'. At that time, when the designers of the flag were thinking about the flag pattern in the middle of the night, they pushed open the window to see the sky full of stars, of which the North Star was the brightest and the rest of the small stars surrounded it. From this, it is conceived that the Communist Party of China is the great savior of the Chinese people, and that the workers, peasants, petty bourgeoisie, and national bourgeoisie are like the 4 little stars surrounding the North Star. This is where the flag motif was first inspired. Finally, the name of the flag was changed from 'five-star flag on a red background' to 'five-star red flag'. Wang Chao introduced.
With the national flag design determined on September 27, less than four days before the founding ceremony on October 1, who will bear the responsibility of making the national flag? According to Wang Chao, this heavy task is done by ordinary Beijing people. At that time, Beijing launched all the tailor shops and sewing clubs, and within three days, countless five-star red flags were suddenly produced. One of the special flags is made of red silk, that is, China's first five-star red flag raised in Tiananmen Square at the founding ceremony of the People's Republic of China, which was made by a company called Yongmao Industry.
Red Mail Story:
The birth of the first set of National Day commemorative stamps
On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China was founded. When the stamp appears in front of people with the title of "founding the country", it is always deeply remembered and carefully preserved.
Since more than 70 years have passed, the designer of the stamp "Commemoration of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" has been unable to be interviewed, and the reporter found some records in the recollection records of Mr. Li Jinzhu, the sixth vice president of the All-China Philatelic Federation:
On January 31, 1949, Peiping was peacefully liberated. In February 1949, the North China General Administration of Posts and Telecommunications took the lead in moving into Beiping. On April 21, 1949, Director Su Younong and Deputy Director Cheng Anyu drafted a document and submitted it to the North China People's Government, proposing a plan to prepare for the issuance of national stamps. "The epoch-making new Political Consultative Conference is about to be inaugurated... To this end, the Bureau intends to publish a newspaper soliciting a wide range of commemorative stamp designs to celebrate the commemoration..."
The deadline for the collection of artworks shown in the document is May 31, 1949, but the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the founding ceremony have been explicitly included as major themes and included in the commemorative stamp issuance plan.
On October 29, 1949, the Post and Telecommunications Administration of Luda university sent a letter to the Administrative Office of Luda University, with a sample stamp, the general content of the letter is: "In celebration of the grand ceremony of the People's Republic of China, a set of three six-color commemorative stamps is hereby issued on November 1, with a ticket amount of 35 yuan." On October 31, the Post and Telecommunications Administration of the University of Tourism issued a report to the Administrative Office of the University of Tourism with the official document No. 134 of the Yezi, which was roughly as follows: "In celebration of the grand ceremony of the People's Republic of China, a set of three editions of six-color commemorative stamps is hereby issued on November 1, with a face value of 35 yuan and 45,000 copies. Sample payment petition, prayer for use for the record". On November 3, the Office of the People's Republic of China issued a reply directive: "To celebrate the grand ceremony of the People's Republic of China, it is planned to issue a commemorative stamp B on November 1, check the feasibility and approve this submission, this order".
Based on the above information, some people believe that the stamp of the 22nd "Commemoration of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" was not issued on November 1, on the grounds that the Administrative Office of the University of Tourism did not approve it until November 3. In fact, the Post and Telecommunications Administration of the Liberated Area of the Brigade University has a precedent of "cutting first and playing later": for example, the stamp "Commemorating the Fourth Anniversary of the Victory of 93 and the Opening of the Dalian Engineering Exhibition" numbered Luda 20, the date of issue is September 1, 1949, but it was not until September 6 that the Luda Post and Telecommunications Administration submitted wen Zongfa No. 23 and Yezi No. 96 to the Administrative Office of the Luda University, so the philatelic circles more believe that the date of issue of the stamp "Commemoration of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" of luminaust 22 is the date of the declared issuance, that is, November 1.
In the days when the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, the commemorative stamps as "national business cards" went through such a process:
On September 30, 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese Political Consultative Conference was closed, and on October 8, 1949 and February 1, 1950, the People's Post of china issued two sets of commemorative stamps marked "Ji 1" and "Ji 2" for this historic CPPCC session.
On November 1, 1949, the Post and Telecommunications Administration of the Liberated Area of The Brigade, which had not yet been revoked at that time, took the lead in issuing stamps to commemorate the founding of the People's Republic of China.
On October 1, 1949, the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, and after a long period of planning and design, Chinese Min post issued a stamp of "Commemoration of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" on July 1, 1950, marked as "Ji 4".