Last modified: 2014-11-22 by zoltán horváth
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![[Shanghai international settlement]](../images/c/cn-shn19.gif)
image by Željko Heimer and Antonio Martins
Source: http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/5047/SHANGFLG.html
See also:
"The Shanghai International Settlement (Chinese: 上海公共租界; Japanese: 上海共同租界;
French: Concession Internationale de Changhai; Russian: Шанхайский международный
сеттльмент) began originally as a purely
British settlement. It was one of the original five
treaty ports which were established under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking at
the end of the first opium war in the year 1842. American and French involvement
followed close on the heels, and distinct areas of settlement for the Americans
and the French were drawn out to the north and south of the British
settlement respectively. In 1854 a united municipal council was created to serve
all three settlements, but in 1862, the French
concession dropped out of the arrangement. The following year the British
and American settlements formally united to become the Shanghai International
Settlement.
As more foreign powers entered into treaty relations with China, their nationals
also became part of the administration of the settlement, but it always remained
a predominantly British affair, at least until the late 1930s when Japan's
involvement became of increasing importance. Unlike the colonies of
Hong Kong and Weiheiwei
which were sovereign British territories, the Shanghai International Settlement
always remained Chinese sovereign territory. Hence when the British declared war
against Germany in 1939, German nationals continued to operate freely within the
territory of the international settlement.
The international settlement came to an abrupt end in December 1941 when
Japanese troops stormed in immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor. In
early 1943, new treaties signed by Chiang Kaishek's free
Chinese government with Britain and
British India on the one hand, and with the United
States on the other hand, brought to an end the extraterritorial privileges
which had been enjoyed by British subjects and American citizens for one hundred
years."
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_International_Settlement
I found a
better image for Shanghai International Settlement.
Esteban Rivera, 08 April 2012
Only Hong Kong Island, Stonecutters Island and Kowloon formed a Crown Colony.
The New Territories in Hong Kong and Weiheiwei were on lease from China.
David Prothero, 08 April 2012
For the New Territories at least, although on lease from China, it was
governed as part of the Crown Colony of Hong Kong all the same.
Miles Li, 09 April 2012
There were three municipalities in Shanghai. The
international settlement, represented by the flag above, was governed by a
municipal council elected by the acceptable foreign, and later Chinese,
ratepayers. France ended its special status in 1946 in
exchange for the Chinese evacuation of the northern parts of Vietnam
Phil Abbey, 28 October 1997
The motto means "All Joined in One", which referred to the multinational
participation in the Shanghai International Settlement.
Miles Li, 14 June 2006
I make the Chinese characters to be 工部局.
Jonathan Dixon, 26 June 2006
The phrase is pronounced (in Mandarin) "Gong Bu Ju".
It means "Works Department", indicating the Shanghai Municipal Council's
main role (in the eyes of the Chinese population) of maintaining the
public infrastructure within the Shanghai International Settlement.
Miles Li, 27 June 2006
The lettering "工部局" reads in pinyin (with tone
marks) "gōngbůjú".
António Martins- Tuválkin, 29 October 2007
Some time ago I shared with this group the flag used by the International Settlement at Shanghai. The following link describes it in full. For those with weak web access I have included the text. Tales of Old Shanghai
From the North China Herald, July 8, 1916
Phil Abbey, 15 November 1998The following notes from a correspondent of antiquarian tastes will be of interest to many who have wondered how the Municipal Seal came into existence.
The Municipal Seal at present in use was designed by Mr. Oliver, the then Municipal Engineer, was approved by the Council in December, 1868 and brought into use in April, 1869.
At that time 11 countries had treaties with China. These, in the order of the dates of their treaties, are as follows: Russia, Great Britain, America, France, Belgium, Sweden and Norway, Germany (i.e. Prussia), Denmark, Netherlands, Spain, Italy.
With the exception of Belgium the flags of all these countries are included, whereas Austria and Portugal are represented, although they apparently had no treaties.
The flags represented are as follows:
Top left hand shield: Great Britain, America, France, Germany.
Top right hand shield: Russia, Denmark, Italy, Portugal.
Lower Shield: Norway and Sweden, Austria, Spain, Holland.
Countries having treaties with China but whose flags are not represented on the shield are: Belgium, Japan, Cuba, Brazil.
There is a considerable amount of contortion of the flags although this is apparently unavoidable. This can only be detected by noting from which side each flag is supposed to be hung. The system adopted has been that, looking from the centre, the flag pole is supposed to be on the left of the flag.
There was a considerable amount of objection to the design of the seal, and in 1870 Mr. Oliver prepared another in the form of a Shield with four quarters showing a railway train opposite a pagoda, a steamer opposite to a junk, and the word "Priress" underneath. This together with a heterogeneous assortment of other designs was exhibited, but at the Ratepayers Meeting which followed it was agreed that none of the new designs proved entirely satisfactory, and, on the motion of Mr. T. W. Kingsmill, it was decided that "the present seal shall remain as the common seal of the Council until the production of a more satisfactory design."
In 1895 Mr. Mayne pointed out that the council of the seal is faulty, but the Council decided that as it had been in use so long no change was desirable.
My father (now 80 yrs.) and step mom were both residents of the Shanghai
International Settlement during the Japanese occupation years. He has a
slightly different version of the municipal seal used on the flag, one that is
missing the German flag and is simply a white space where the flag would have
been. He tells me this modification was a protest against the German European
aggression of the time. He has more information regarding this, as the seal
was used on other items such as school tie pins and probably the school flag,
too. The area schools were not co-educational, so the girls school may well
have a different but similar flag design.
Andy Kliene, 5 December 2000
I have an interesting image, scanned from the book Shanghai Girl Gets
All Dressed Up by Beverley Jackson (Ten Speed Press, 2005) which shows the
seal of the Shanghai International Settlement on the hoist side of a yellow
pennant, with the Chinese Imperial dragon on the fly, facing the hoist. This
was from a label promoting the Astor House, one of the premier Western hotels
in that city during the 1920's and 1930's.
Roger Moyer, 11 December 2005
I believe this dragon flag was not a "real" flag: it had a sloped
bottom, as is the norm for western-style burgees, not the traditional
Chinese-style flag with a horizontal bottom.
But there's more to this flag. The Italian flag on the emblem was shown as
red-white-red, not green-white-red. Also the dragon had only four claws on
each foot; the designer of this flag must have known that it was a capital
offence for a Chinese commoner to display five-clawed dragons (although this
would not really matter for the designer, since the Shanghai Municipality
enjoyed extraterritoriality)
I must however point out that it was common for early 20th Century Chinese
printed matters to feature flags, which were often portrayed quite liberally.
Miles Li, 18 December 2005
image by Miles Li, 11 November 2014
The Shanghai Volunteer Corps was raised by the
Shanghai Municipal Council on April 4, 1854, as an expatriates'
militia to defend the Shanghai International Settlement. Although not
formally part of any national army, it has always been subjected to
heavy British (and to a lesser extent US) military influences. By the
time of the Japanese invasion of the Settlement in 1941, it had grown
into a modern force of over 2000 men, divided into volunteer companies
on racial lines: British, American, Eurasian, Chinese, Jewish, etc..
Also included was the Shanghai Russian Regiment, a battalion-sized,
professional/standing unit of Russian émigrés who settled in Shanghai
after the Russian Revolution. However in 1941, just before the
Japanese invasion of the Settlement, this regiment was re-formed as
the Russian Auxiliary Detachment of the Shanghai Municipal Police.
Now to the minute details of this magnificent flag: it was unlike any
traditional Russian military colour, this being the modern Russian
national flag (white-blue-red horizontal tricolour) in proportions
2:3, defaced at the centre with an eight-pointed, 72-rayed silver
star, its diameter being 2/3 of the width of the flag, which bore a
disc very similar in design to the SMC seal, but with the legend being
"SHANGHAI RUSSIAN REGIMENT" in red English capital letters, and
without any motto; the diameter of the inner ring of the legend should
be 1/3 the width of the flag. The flag has a golden fringe, 1/6 the
width of the flag; a golden spearhead finial, its height being again
1/6 the width of the flag, bearing the Russian Cross motif; and a
streamer in the colours of the St. George's Ribbon (orange with three
black stripes), with a golden tassel at both ends.
Source: Jin dai Shanghai fan hua lu (Record of Prosperity of Shanghai
of the Recent Era), Commercial Press (Hong Kong) 1993, ISBN
9620751582, page 49, photo 22.
Miles Li, 28 October 2007
The fourth quarter left blank and reserved for Germany
in the Shanghai International Settlement flag, above, is here filled up with the
Prussian flag.I wonder if the Chinese characters here read "Gong Bu Ju" as in the Shanghai International
Settlement flag (as you say meaning Works Department, which I find quite unusual.
Željko Heimer, 28 October 2007
The image of the
Shanghai
Volunteer Corps emblem, was was identical to that of
the Shanghai Russian Regiment apart from the legend and a few minor artistic details.
Miles Li, 29 October 2007
It is slightly improved flag image of the colour of Shanghai Russian
Regiment.
Miles Li, 11 November 2014
