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,
Liberalism in Hong Kong quo to a democratic and fairer society. This view was held by Tsang Shu-ki, a prominent thinker in the social activist circle at the time. In January 1983, the liberals formed the Meeting Point favoured the Chinese rule with the slogan of new Three Principles of People, "Nation, Democracy and People's Livelihood." It became one of the earliest groups in Hong Kong favoured Chinese sovereignty over Hong Kong but wanted a free, democratic and autonomous Hong Kong. The Sino-British Joint Declaration of 1984 guaranteed Hong Kong would retain a high degree of autonomy under Chinese sovereignty with the preservation of