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Flag designed by Bikki Sunazawa From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An Ainu flag was designed by Bikki Sunazawa, a Japanese sculptor of Ainu ancestry.[1][2][3]
Vector rendering of an interpretation uploaded to Flags of the World | |
| Use | Other |
|---|---|
| Adopted | 1973 |
| Design | Blue field with white figure and red arrow |
| Designed by | Bikki Sunazawa |
Upon a repeated request from his friend, Bikki Sunazawa eventually designed the flag in 1973 – although he distanced himself from political activism seeking government support. Nevertheless, an Ainu group displayed the flag when they marched at a May Day celebration in Sapporo in the same year.[4] On rare occasions, it is still seen at Ainu functions.[5]
In 2020 Bikki's son Jin Sunazawa claimed copyright ownership and requested disuse of the flag.[6]
The flag consists of a cerulean blue field standing for sky and sea, a white figure standing for snow, and a red arrow flying beneath Hokkaido's sky.[7] The arrow is red because of surku, the aconite poison used in traditional hunting, a way of life that was banned by the Japanese.[5] The white figure, commonly known as Bikki mon'yō, was not a traditional Ainu motif but Bikki's personal invention.[8]
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