(Adopted at the 18th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Seventh National People's Congress and promulgated by Order No.41 of the President of the People's Republic of China on March 2, 1991)

Article 1 This Law is enacted, in accordance with the Constitution, with a view to upholding the dignity of the National Emblem and ensuring the correct use of the National Emblem.

Article 2 The National Emblem of the People's Republic of China shall comprise the design of Tian'anmen in its centre illuminated by five stars and encircled by ears of grain and a cogwheel.

The National Emblem of the People's Republic of China shall be made in accordance with the Design of the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China adopted by the Central People's Government Council in 1950, and the Directions for the Making of the Design of the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China promulgated by the General Office of the Central People’s Government Council in the same year.

Article 3 The National Emblem of the People's Republic of China is the symbol and hallmark of the People's Republic of China.

All organizations and citizens shall respect and care for the National Emblem.

Article 4 The following organs shall hang the National Emblem:

(1) The standing committees of the people's congresses at or above the county level;

(2) The people's governments at or above the county level;

(3) The Central Military Commission;

(4)The people's courts at various levels and the special people's courts;

(5) The people's procuratorates at various levels and the special people's procuratorates;

(6) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and

(7) The country's embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions stationed in other countries.

The people's governments of townships, nationality townships and towns may hang the National Emblem, specific measures for which shall be stipulated by the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government in light of their actual conditions.

The National Emblem shall be hung right in the middle on top of the front gate of the organ concerned.

Article 5 The National Emblem shall be hung in the following places:

(1)The rostrum of Tian'anmen and the Great Hall of the People in Beijing;

(2)The conference halls of the people's congresses at or above the county level and their standing committees;

(3) Courtrooms of the people's courts at various levels and of the special people's courts; and

(4) Appropriate places of ports of exit or entry.

Article 6 The seals of the following organs shall include the design of the National Emblem:

(1) The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the Central Military Commission, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate;

(2) The special committees of the National People's Congress and the General Office and the working commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the ministries and commissions under the State Council, departments directly under the State Council, the General Office of the State Council and the administrative offices that shall, as prescribed by the State Council, use seals including the design of the National Emblem, as well as the General Office of the Central Military Commission and other organs that shall, as prescribed by the Central Military Commission, use seals including the design of the National Emblem;

(3) The standing committees of the local people's congresses, the local people's governments, the local people's courts, and the local people's procuratorates at or above the county level, as well as the special people’s courts and the special people’s procuratorates; and

(4) The country's embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions stationed in other countries.

Article 7 There shall be printed on the following documents and publications the design of the National Emblem:

(1) Certificates of honour, letters of appointment and diplomatic documents issued by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the President of the People's Republic of China, and the State Council;

(2) Envelopes, correspondence paper and invitation cards used in foreign affairs by the President of the People's Republic of China, the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the Premier of the State Council, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, the President of the Supreme People's Court and the Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate in their respective capacities;

(3) Front covers of bulletins of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the State Council, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate; and

(4) Front covers of the official editions of laws and regulations published by the State.

Article 8 Measures for the use of the design of the National Emblem in activities of foreign affairs and by the country's embassies, consulates and other diplomatic missions stationed in other countries shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and submitted to the State Council for approval before implementation.

Article 9 Where the hanging of the National Emblem or the use of the design of the National Emblem is necessitated outside the scope specified in this Law, it shall be prescribed by the General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress or the General Office of the State Council, in conjunction with the departments concerned.

Article 10 The National Emblem and the design thereof shall not be used in:

(1) Trademarks or advertisements;

(2) Furnishings or ornaments in everyday life;

(3) Private activities of celebration or condolence; and

(4) Other circumstances where the National Emblem and the design thereof may not be used, as prescribed by the General Office of the State Council.

Article 11 No damaged, defiled, or substandard National Emblem shall be hung.

Article 12 The National Emblem to be hung shall be uniformly made by enterprises designated by the State and the diameters of its usual dimensions shall be as follows:

(1) One hundred centimetres;

(2) Eighty centimetres; and

(3) Sixty centimetres.

The hanging, in special places, of the National Emblem in unusual dimensions shall be subject to the prior approval of the General Office of the State Council.

Article 13 Whoever desecrates the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China by publicly and willfully burning, mutilating, scrawling on, defiling, or trampling upon it shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law; if the circumstances are relatively minor, the offender shall, with reference to the provisions of the Regulations on Administrative Penalties for Public Security, be punished by the public security organ with a detention of not more than fifteen days.

Article 14 The people's governments at or above the county level shall exercise supervision and control over the use of the National Emblem.

Article 15 This Law shall go into effect as of October 1, 1991.

Appendix I:

The Design of the National Emblem of

the People's Republic of China

(Adopted at the Eighth Meeting of the Central People's Government Council on June 28, 1950)

Caption: Comprising the National Flag, Tian’anmen, a cogwheel and ears of wheat and rice, the National Emblem symbolizes the new-democratic revolutionary struggle waged by the Chinese people since the May 4th Movement in 1919, as well as the birth of the New China under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants.

Appendix II:

Directions for the Making of the Design of the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China

(Promulgated by the General Office of the Central Government Council on September 20, 1950)

1. Two bunches of wheat and rice form a round ring. A cogwheel is placed where the wheat and rice stems cross at the base. Red ribbon forms a knot in the centre of the cogwheel. The red ribbon coils up the wheat and rice on the left and right of the cogwheel and hangs down, dividing the cogwheel into an upper and a lower part.

2. If a vertical straight line is drawn in the centre of the design, the left and the right parts thereof are completely symmetrical.

3. The positions and measurements of the various parts of the design may be enlarged or reduced to the scale of the squared ink line sketch.

4. If a relief sculpture is made, the height of the various parts may be magnified or lessened to the scale of the sectional drawing.

5. The National Emblem is in red and gold: the wheat and rice, the five stars, Tian'anmen and the cogwheel are in gold, the base of the part within the round ring and the hanging ribbon are in red; the red is pure red (the same as the National Flag), the gold is pure gold (light and bright).