Flagpole of University of Nanking

Flagpole of University of Nanking

The flagpole of the University of Nanking is located at No. 22 Hankou Road.

In September 1934, the Japanese Embassy in the Republic of China, which was just next to the University of Nanking across a wall, erected a steel flagpole and hoisted the rising sun flag. This prompted a strong desire and demand among students and faculty at the University of Nanking to "build a taller flagpole on campus to demonstrate national pride." Thirty-eight students, including Zhu Shu and Shen Naisen, were the first to post a notice titled “An Appeal from University of Nanking: Erect a Flagpole Without Delay,” initiating a campaign for everyone to donate to build the flagpole.

In August 1935, a steel pipe flagpole, which cost 1,700 yuan, was completed on the south side of the university chapel. The flagpole, over 40 meters high, flew the Chinese national flag high above the neighboring rising sun flag, symbolizing that the Chinese people could not be humiliated. The patriotic movement to build the flagpole at the University of Nanking stands as a glorious chapter in the history of student activism at the university.

In 1964, due to the construction of a new teaching building on the south side of the university auditorium, it was decided to relocate this historically significant flagpole to the lawn on the south side of the main sports field. The Political Department of the university’s Party Committee specially wrote an inscription titled “Record of the Relocation of the Flagpole,” which was engraved on the foundation stone of the flagpole as a permanent memorial and became part of the university's patriotic education materials. Today, the flagpole remains well-preserved and has become an important symbol of the people of Nanjing’s resistance against imperialism and their love for the nation.