Treatise on Armament Technology, Volume 101

Military Equipment: Warfare — Banners and Flags, Part 3

original: 武備志卷一百一 軍資乘 戰 旌旗三 (Wǔbèi Zhì Juǎn Yībǎi Yī: Jūn Zī Chéng, Zhàn, Jīngqí Sān). This volume of the Ming dynasty encyclopedia focuses on the "Military Equipment" needed for active "Warfare," specifically focusing on the third part of the section on "Banners and Flags."

For every identifying flag of a Major General in a large command, the streamers follow the five colors of the Nayin system. Each command general’s identifying flag is also governed by these rules.

original: 納音 (Nàyīn). The "Received Sounds" or "Melodic Elements." This is a sophisticated system of Chinese cosmology that maps the Five Elements (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) onto the musical scale and the calendar. In a military context, it was used to assign specific colors to units based on their philosophical alignment and directional placement.

The flag shall use the color of its assigned direction. The border of the flag identifies the relationship to the Commander-in-Chief, while the signal streamers correspond to "Virtue." This "Virtue" represents the King himself.

Identifying Flagoriginal: 認旗 (rènqí). These were distinct flags used to identify specific officers or units on the battlefield, allowing soldiers to locate their commanders amidst the chaos of combat.

For the identifying flag of a Company Commander, the center of the flag is colored according to its directional position. The border color corresponds to the Company Commander’s specific rank, and the streamers correspond to the "Virtue" flag of the higher command.

Company Commanderoriginal: 把總 (bǎzǒng). A mid-level officer rank in the Ming military, typically in charge of a "ba" (company-sized unit) of approximately 400 to 500 men.

For the Platoon Leader, the flag's color corresponds to their specific Shao unit, and the border corresponds to the General Office. For the Squad Leader, the color of the flag corresponds to the flag of their superior.

Shaooriginal: 哨 (shào). A military division below a company. Depending on the era, it could represent a "patrol" or a "squadron" of roughly 100 men.

Common soldiers wear tassels on their helmets but do not carry flags. The flags attached to the helmets of Squad Leaders are three inches long. These flags are inscribed with the specific numbers of their squad and Shao division; the color of these square flags follows the color of the flag of the Shao commander.