During the Tiandihui initiation ceremony, the flag of the ‘taiyang’ or sun, together with the flag of the ‘yueliang’ or moon, flanked both sides of the flag of the Commander-in-Chief. The flag of the sun, as seen here, was intended to denote the day or ‘ri’, while the flag of the moon symbolised the night. The Chinese character ‘Ming’ was formed when ri and yue were combined, denoting the mission of the restoration of the Ming Dynasty. These secret society paraphernalia were found in the William Stirling Collection. William Stirling was the Assistant Protector of Chinese in Singapore from 1921 to 1931.
