The false claim came to light after China conducted the first sea trials of the Fujian, its third and largest aircraft carrier, on May 1, 2024. The tests were an important next step in Beijing’s massive naval buildup as it pursues a more assertive policy. role for itself in the Pacific and beyond.
But decades of hostility between China and Japan – driven by China’s previous occupation and current territorial disputes – often leads to the spread of misinformation on Chinese social media.
Similar false claims about the misidentification of the flag seen on the ship were shared elsewhere on Weibo and on X here and here.
In fact, the flag seen on the ship is used for signaling and communication at sea.
Signaling flag
A Google keyword search found a video report from Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on May 1, 2024, with the headline “Navy’s Fujian departs for first series of sea trials” (archived link).
The image used in the fake messages matches the 25-second mark of the CCTV report, where a triangular flag with a red disk in the center can be seen next to the Chinese national flag.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image in the fake messages (left) and the camera footage (right):
Further keyword searching on Google led to the International signal code for visual, audio, and radio communications guide published by the U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a communications method used in maritime navigation to convey messages about navigational safety and related matters (archived link).
The triangular flag with a red circle corresponds to the number “1” in this system. Meanwhile, the white flag with a red cross corresponds to the number “8” and the flag with diagonal red and yellow lines corresponds to the letter “Y”, as seen in the screenshot below:
In contrast, the Japanese national flag “the rising sun” is usually rectangular with an aspect ratio of 2:3, according to the Japanese government (archived link).
In a Weibo post on May 2, ship manufacturer China State Shipbuilding Corporation dismissed the claim, writing: “These are signal flags hung in accordance with the International Code of Signals, it has nothing to do with the ‘sun flag’.”
A group of signal flags usually consists of three alphabet or number flags, and the “sun” flag was actually the signal flag for the number “1,” according to the post.
