National flag common for colours to be presented in bands of three. It is common for many flags to feature national symbols, such as coats of arms. National patterns are present in some flags. Variations in design within a national flag can be common in the flag's upper left quarter, or canton. The most popular colours in national flags are red, white, green, dark blue, yellow, light blue, and black. The occurrence of each colour in all the flags is listed in detail in the table below. The table shows that the colours light brown, dark brown and grey only occur in
Flag of the Qing dynasty the Republic of China and on the flag of the Empire of China, although in 1912 the former was challenged by Sun Yat-sen, who thought it inappropriate to use the traditional imperial color to represent Manchu ethnicity. Also, mustard yellow was used in the flag of Manchukuo in deference to the Qing dynasty, on whose flag it was based. The blue dragon was featured in the Twelve Symbols national emblem, which was the state emblem of China from 1913 to 1928. When the Qing dynasty purchased battleships from the United Kingdom in 1862, Horatio Nelson Lay designed several naval flags