Flag of Hong Kong Kong was granted on 21 January 1959 by the College of Arms in London. The Hong Kong flag was revised in the same year to feature the coat of arms in the Blue Ensign flag. This design was used officially from 1959 until Hong Kong's transfer of sovereignty in 1997. Since then, the colonial flag has been appropriated by protestors, such as on the annual 1 July marches for universal suffrage, as a "symbol of antagonism towards the mainland", along with a blue flag featuring the coat of arms, used by those advocating independence. Before Hong Kong's transfer of sovereignty,
Hong Kong–North Korea relations and People's Republic of China. Hong Kong joined the embargo imposed on the communist bloc during the second half of the 20th century. Following the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to China, North Korea was able to open a Consulate-General in February 2000 by virtue of its diplomatic relations with Beijing, having previously not been allowed to establish a trade mission during British rule. The Consulate General is located in Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island. Hong Kong had been involved in two cases of North Korean defectors. The first was in 1996, by then a family of 16