長野県 (Nagano)
Flag
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Flag
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Prefecture
Nagano Prefecture (長野県, Nagano-ken) flies an orange flag bearing a white crest: the katakana character “ナ” (na), stylised into the shape of a bird in flight, its horizontal stroke doing double duty as mountains reflected in a lake. Chosen by public competition and formally announced on 26 December 1966, with the flag itself following on 20 March 1967, the design is often called “Japan’s roof” in reference to the prefecture’s high alpine terrain. Note that Nagano Prefecture and its capital, the city of Nagano, are separate administrative bodies with entirely separate emblems — this page covers the prefecture only.
| Prefecture | Nagano (長野県, Nagano-ken) |
|---|---|
| Type | Ken (県) — ordinary prefecture |
| Region | Chūbu (central Honshu) |
| Capital | Nagano City (a separate municipal entity with its own emblem) |
| Established | 1871 haihan-chiken as Nagano and Chikuma prefectures (former Shinano Province); merged into modern Nagano Prefecture in 1876 |
| Crest (kenshō) | White katakana “ナ” as a flying bird with mountain/lake motif, on orange; adopted 26 December 1966 |
| Flag | Adopted 20 March 1967, bearing the 1966 crest |
| Official tree | White birch (shirakaba) |
| Official flower | Gentian (rindō) |
| Official bird | Rock ptarmigan (raichō) |
| Official animal | Japanese serow (kamoshika) |
Flag of Nagano Prefecture — Orange field, white bird-and-mountain crest, adopted 1966–67
The flag of Nagano Prefecture is an orange (daidai) field bearing a white disc containing the prefecture’s crest (県章, kenshō): the katakana character “ナ”, the first sound of “Nagano,” drawn as a circular, dynamic silhouette that reads as a bird taking flight. The character’s horizontal stroke is worked into the design twice over — as a mountain range in the upper half, and as that same range’s reflection in a lake below. According to the prefectural government, the design expresses the natural beauty of Nagano and the friendship and unity of its people as they overcome difficulty and advance toward the future. White stands for the snow of “Japan’s roof” and the purity of the prefecture’s character; orange stands for sunlight falling on the land through all four seasons.
Before 1871. The prefecture’s territory corresponds closely to the historical Shinano Province (信濃国), a mountainous inland province of old Japan.
1871 — Haihan-chiken. With the abolition of the domains and establishment of prefectures, Shinano’s former territory was reorganised into two prefectures: Nagano Prefecture, seated at Nagano, and Chikuma Prefecture, seated at Matsumoto.
1876 — Merger. After a fire destroyed the Chikuma prefectural office, Chikuma’s Shinano-side territory was absorbed into Nagano Prefecture (its Hida-side territory went to Gifu instead), producing a Nagano Prefecture essentially coextensive with former Shinano Province — the boundaries that persist today.
26 December 1966 — Crest adopted. Ninety years later, the prefectural government ran a public design competition and formally adopted the bird-and-mountain crest by official announcement, effective from 1 January 1967. The dedicated flag bearing this crest was proclaimed on 20 March 1967.
Because the prefectural capital happens to share its name with the prefecture itself, it is easy to conflate the two. Nagano City (長野市), the seat of the prefectural government and home to the famous Zenkō-ji temple, has its own distinct municipal emblem: a rounded stylisation of the kanji 長 (“naga”, from Nagano) rendered in a blue-green shade known as aotake-iro ("blue bamboo") on a white field, adopted 20 March 1967 — the same date as the prefectural flag, by coincidence. It shares no design lineage with the prefecture’s katakana-“na” bird crest — the two emblems belong to different levels of government and should not be confused when researching either one.
An orange field with a white disc bearing a stylised katakana “ナ” (na) shaped like a bird in flight. Its horizontal stroke forms mountains above and their reflection in a lake below, symbolising the prefecture’s natural beauty and its people’s unity and progress.
No. Nagano Prefecture and the city of Nagano — its capital — are separate administrative bodies with separate emblems. The prefecture’s crest is the white katakana-“na” bird-and-mountain design on orange described here. Nagano City’s own emblem is a rounded stylisation of the kanji 長 (naga) in a blue-green shade known as aotake-iro ("blue bamboo") on white, a design unrelated to the prefectural crest.
The prefectural crest was selected by public competition and formally announced on 26 December 1966, taking effect from 1 January 1967. The dedicated prefectural flag bearing this crest was adopted on 20 March 1967.
The white birch (shirakaba) is the official tree, the gentian (rindō) the official flower, the rock ptarmigan (raichō) the official bird, and the Japanese serow (kamoshika) the official animal.
Last reviewed by the Emblema Mundi editorial team on 2026-07-04.