The flag of the People's Republic of China is a red field charged in the canton (upper corner nearest the flagpole) with five golden stars. The design features one large star, with four smaller stars in a semicircle set off towards the fly (the side farthest from the flag pole). The red represents revolution; the five stars and their relationship represent the unity of the Chinese people under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Sometimes, the flag is referred to as the "Five Star Red Flag" .

The flag was designed by Zeng Liansong, a citizen from Rui'an, Zhejiang. He designed it in response to a circular distributed by the Preparatory Committee of the New Political Consultative Conference , in July 1949, shortly after they came to power following the Chinese Civil War. 2,992 (or 3,012, see below) entries were received for the design competition, and Zeng's design was put into a pool of 38 finalists. After several meetings and slight modifications, Zeng's design was chosen as the national flag. The first flag was hoisted by the PLA on a pole overlooking Beijing's Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949, at a ceremony announcing the founding of the People's Republic.

Other flags used in the People's Republic of China use a red background to symbolize the revolution in conjunction with other symbols. The flag of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) uses the gold star with the Chinese characters 8-1. The flag of the Communist Party of China replaces all of the stars with the party emblem. Due to government regulations, cities and provinces of China cannot have their own flags; the only sub-national flags that exist are those of the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions.