広島県 (Hiroshima)
Flag
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Flag
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Prefecture
Hiroshima Prefecture (広島県, Hiroshima-ken) flies a crimson flag bearing a white crest: a stylized katakana letter “ヒ” (hi) — the first sound of Hiroshima — formed from overlapping circles, adopted in 1968. This prefectural emblem is easy to confuse with a different symbol: the city of Hiroshima, the prefecture’s capital, has its own separate emblem of three wavy stripes evoking rivers, dating to 1896. The two are often mixed up, but they belong to two distinct administrative bodies.
| Prefecture | Hiroshima (広島県, Hiroshima-ken) |
|---|---|
| Type | Ken (県) — ordinary prefecture |
| Region | Chūgoku, on the Seto Inland Sea coast |
| Capital | Hiroshima City (a separate municipal entity with its own emblem) |
| Established | 1871, via the haihan-chiken abolition of domains, uniting the former Aki and Bingo provinces; exact boundaries settled over the following years |
| Crest (kenshō) | Katakana “ヒ” in overlapping circles, white on crimson; adopted 16 July 1968 |
| Official tree | Japanese maple (momiji), designated 1966 |
| Official flower | None formally designated; the maple is popularly treated as filling this role as well |
| Official bird | Great Northern Diver / black-throated loon (abi), designated 1964 |
Flag of Hiroshima Prefecture — Crimson field, white katakana ヒ crest in overlapping circles, adopted 1968
The flag of Hiroshima Prefecture is a crimson field bearing the prefecture’s white crest (県章, kenshō): the katakana character “ヒ” (hi), the first sound of “Hiroshima,” stylized into a circular form built from overlapping circles. According to the prefectural government’s own explanation, the circles express the harmony and unity of residents, while their overlapping arrangement symbolizes the prefecture’s ongoing growth and development.
The design was chosen through a public competition and formally established by Hiroshima Prefectural Notification No. 572, dated 16 July 1968, which enacted the emblem and flag together. Some secondary sources give an earlier date (1966) for the emblem alone, but the prefecture’s own official pages and the National Governors’ Association both cite 16 July 1968 as the date the design was formally adopted; where sources conflict, this page follows the two independent official listings.
Administratively, modern Hiroshima Prefecture traces its boundaries to the 1871 haihan-chiken reform, when the Meiji government abolished the feudal domains and united the former Aki and Bingo provinces — previously ruled from Hiroshima Castle by the Asano clan — into a single prefecture. The prefecture rebuilt its institutions, including civic symbols, in the decades following the devastation of the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima City, though the 1968 crest itself is a later, purpose-designed mark rather than a wartime or immediate postwar symbol.
Because the prefecture and its capital share the same name, their emblems are frequently mixed up. Hiroshima City — the municipality, not the prefecture — has its own separate emblem, adopted on 19 May 1896: three wavy horizontal stripes derived from the banner of the former Aki-han domain’s lord, restyled into a wave motif representing the rivers that flow through the delta city. That three-stripe “rivers” design belongs to the city, not the prefecture. The prefecture’s own official symbol, described on this page, is the unrelated katakana-ヒ crest in overlapping circles.
A crimson field with a white crest: a stylized katakana “ヒ” formed from overlapping circles, representing unity among residents and the prefecture’s ongoing growth.
No. The katakana ヒ in overlapping circles is the emblem of Hiroshima Prefecture, adopted in 1968. Hiroshima City has its own, separate emblem — three wavy stripes adapted from the former Aki-han lord’s banner, adopted in 1896, representing the rivers that flow through the city. The prefecture and the city are distinct administrative bodies with distinct emblems, even though they share a name.
The prefectural emblem and flag were both established by Hiroshima Prefectural Notification No. 572 on 16 July 1968, following a public design competition.
The Japanese maple (momiji, designated 1966) serves as the prefectural tree; no flower has ever been formally designated, though the maple is popularly treated as covering that role too. The Great Northern Diver (abi, a migratory loon) is the official bird, designated in 1964.
Last reviewed by the Emblema Mundi editorial team on 2026-07-04.