The incorrect claim emerged after China carried out first sea trials of the Fujian, its 3rd and biggest warship, on Might 1, 2024. The tests were an essential next action in a large marine accumulation by Beijing as it takes a more assertive function for itself in the Pacific and beyond.
However years of bitterness in between China and Japan — driven by its previous profession of China and present territorial disagreements — frequently stimulates the spread of false information on Chinese social networks.
Comparable incorrect claims misidentifying the flag seen on the vessel were shared in other places on Weibo and on X here and here.
In reality, the flag seen on the ship is utilized for signalling and interaction at sea.
Signalling flag
A Google keyword search discovered a video report by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on May 1, 2024, with the heading “Navy’s Fujian leaves for the very first set of sea trials” (archived link).
The image utilized in the incorrect posts represents the CCTV report’s 25-second mark, where a triangular flag with a red disk in the centre can be seen flying beside China’s nationwide flag.
Below is a screenshot contrast of the image in the incorrect posts (left) and the CCTV video footage (right):
Additional keyword searches on Google caused the International Code of Signals for visual, sound and radio interactions guide launched by the United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Firm, which is an approach of interaction utilized in seafaring to communicate messages about navigation security and associated matters (archived link).
The triangular flag with a red circle represents the number “1” in this system. On the other hand, the white flag with a red cross represents the number “8” and the flag with diagonal red and yellow lines represents the letter “Y”, as seen in the screenshot listed below:
By contrast, Japan’s nationwide flag “the increasing sun” is normally rectangle-shaped with a height to width ratio of 2:3, according to the Japanese federal government (archived link).
In a Weibo post on Might 2, the ship’s producer China State Shipbuilding Corporation rebuffed the claim, composing: “These are signalling flags awaited accordance with the International Code of Signals, it has absolutely nothing to do with the ‘sun’ flag.”
A group of signalling flags is normally comprised of 3 alphabet or number flags, and the “sun” flag was really the signal flag for the number “1”, the post states.
